


Lost and Found

by swub



Category: Minecraft (Video Game), Video Blogging RPF
Genre: AKA, Action/Adventure, Angst, Attempt at Humor, Don't copy to another site, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Ew, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Ghosts, Hurt/Comfort, I dont know what to tag, Magic, Minor Injuries, Minor Violence, More tags to be added as they become relevant, No Smut, Superpowers, Swearing, Violence, but mostly - Freeform, just a bit, kind of, no beta we die like men, note: tubbo is not actually dead, only a bit, tommy is here what did you expect
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-08
Updated: 2021-01-16
Packaged: 2021-03-08 01:13:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 40,670
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26887180
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/swub/pseuds/swub
Summary: The boy startled violently, flinching hard enough that Tommy actually saw his feet leave the ground. He nervously shifted the fingers over his right eye and peered out at Tommy through the gaps, and Tommy could clearly see the brown iris of his eye in full when it widened as it met his own. The boy gasped, leaving Tommy feeling even more confused.“You can see me?!”------------Or: Tommy is on his own, and he has been for months. Tubbo doesn't know what's happening to him, but together, they might just be able to solve both of their problems.
Relationships: None
Comments: 154
Kudos: 534





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> hi. this isn't exactly the first thing that i've ever written, but it is the first for this fandom, so please be nice. i am open to criticism, but please don't yell at me in the comments. you'll hurt my feelings.
> 
> in all seriousness, i have a pretty intense plan for this story, but i'm not going to stick to a regular update schedule because i have trouble staying motivated to write when i feel like i have to do it. still, i'm pretty excited about this and i've been writing it like crazy, so updates won't take forever unless i burn out. 
> 
> on that note, this is also a story that i'm writing just for fun. if you have any issues with it, please think long and hard about the meaning of your existence before you yell at me. i will repeat: you'll hurt my feelings.
> 
> thanks for clicking on my story! i hope you enjoy it. :)

Tommy tried his best to act inconspicuous, he really did, but something about him just never seemed to be able to blend in with everyone else. This usually worked to his advantage, since he had always basked in the attention of others and practically demanded it whenever it seemed like he was being ignored. He loved having eyes on him, loved seeing when people were impressed by something or other that  _ he  _ did. Sure, it didn’t really happen all that often, but that was all the more reason for him to try and grab people’s attention. They were more likely to see how awesome he was if they were looking at him, after all.

Now, however, he wished that he had a bit more practice in the opposite field. God, how he wished that people just  _ wouldn’t  _ notice him as he crept up behind them, crouching down so he wouldn’t stick out so much. If only they  _ wouldn’t  _ notice him when he reached out to steal their purses, bags, or really any other remotely valuable thing that he could reasonably get his hands on. He hated having to resort to theft, but there weren’t many other options. Steal, or starve. It seemed simple enough when he thought about it like that.

Cautiously, he extended a hand towards the back pocket of the man in front of him, pinching careful fingers over the rough, old fabric bag bulging enticingly before him. It was a perfect target, sticking out and loosely inserted enough for him to slide it out without being noticed. Hopefully. 

Frankly, Tommy’s track record when it came to pickpocketing was horrendous. In all the months that he’d been on his own, he’d only managed to successfully get away with it twice, and only just. He felt truly pathetic. He was desperate enough to resort to theft, and yet he couldn’t even do it properly. He was barely achieving anything, being left behind by the rest of the careless crowd around him, doomed to scrape the very bottom of the barrel just to get by. He was tired of begging, tired of eating out of the trash or running for his life whenever someone caught him trying to grab something,  _ anything,  _ to make life at least a little bit easier. 

But he didn’t have much of a choice, did he?

He didn’t put much more thought into it, as a bit of experience had taught him that overthinking and hesitation only lowered his chances of success. He smoothly slid the bag out of the man’s pocket and into the back of his own torn trousers as he took an exaggerated step forward, then yelped as he pitched himself forward to fall. He grabbed the man’s shoulder to steady himself, then quickly stumbled back as he was met with an irritated, then disgusted gaze, as expected. 

“S-sorry…” Tommy stuttered, eyes focused firmly on the dirt as he shuffled out of the way of the people walking by him, each of them far too busy to pay a homeless kid like him any mind. “Tripped,” he explained. The man simply scoffed and mumbled something about  _ useless scum,  _ then turned around and very pointedly continued on as if Tommy had never existed. And that was that.

Shit.  _ Shit,  _ that was smooth! Tommy tried to smother his grin as he headed straight for an isolated crevice between two small buildings. Once he was alone, though, the grin died as he suddenly found himself hopelessly craving someone, anyone to brag to, to turn to with a smug grin and show off his accomplishment. He was  _ proud,  _ dammit, and he thought he deserved some recognition for how professionally and seamlessly that whole thing had gone. That guy hadn’t suspected a thing! Nevermind how his great accomplishment was still petty theft. That didn’t matter because he had actually succeeded! But… no one would ever know. Except for that guy, later, when he realized that his emeralds were gone. At least Tommy would be long gone before that happened. He knew better than to stick around for too long, now.

He sighed as he entertained the idea of having a friend with him for just a bit longer, then dropped it as he always did. Anyone who lived in this kingdom knew that it was useless to hope. Instead, Tommy turned his attention to the bag that was still tucked away in the back of his tattered pants. He reached back and dug it out, and allowed himself a sly grin at long last as he unfolded it and flipped through the contents. He could eat decent food for weeks if he made this last! But maybe he should buy new clothes instead? Or a room at an inn, where he could take an actual bath? Decisions, decisions.

“That doesn’t belong to you, does it?”

Tommy released a very manly shriek as he whipped around to find someone staring down at him from above. They were wearing a hood, so he couldn’t see their face, and that only scared him more. Were they a guard? Or had someone finally decided to start sending bounty hunters after him?

His mouth opened and closed soundlessly as his panic kept all of his words pinned in his throat. He shifted ever so slightly, tense as a drawn bowstring, and prepared to make a run for it. He was sure that the person above him was smirking under the shadows cast by their hood. Maybe he could get away like before, if he just ran fast enough.

Just as Tommy was about to spring into motion, the person spoke again.

“Jumpy, aren’t ya? Don’t worry, kid, I’m not gonna turn ya in. It’d be a tad hypocritical of me, y’know?” They drawled in an unfamiliar accent.

Tommy furrowed his brows in confusion. He slightly relaxed his stance as he squinted up at the stranger once more, trying to see under their hood to no avail. He immediately tensed again as they started gracefully maneuvering down the side of the building, closer to him. Beneath the growing terror, a part of Tommy felt a sudden longing to be able to move like that. Escaping would be so much easier!

Before long, the person’s feet were planted firmly on the ground, just over a meter ahead of him. They didn’t attempt to move any closer, and their posture seemed relaxed and entirely unconcerned with running after Tommy if he decided to bolt. That was the only reason Tommy decided not to run. Maybe this person really wasn’t out to get him?

“You don’t look too hot, kiddo. How long ya been out here for?” They asked, tugging down their hood without warning to reveal a young woman with a long, light brown braid.

Tommy’s body immediately locked up.  _ A woman! _ Shit, okay, what did he say? His name was Tommy and he was sixteen and homeless? Wait, she had asked a question!

“Uh, f-four months, now. I’m… trying to hide,” he explained, keeping it vague in case there really was a bounty on his head now. Even if this person was a criminal like him, she probably wouldn’t pass up the chance to turn him in if he was worth the right amount of money.

“Ah, did the nobles decide ya did somethin’ unforgivable, then? You wouldn’t be the first that I’ve seen. Definitely the youngest, though. Can’t believe they’d hunt down a kid like you. What’d you do?” She asked, casually shifting her weight to her right leg and sliding her hands in her pockets.

Tommy pressed his lips together. Okay, so maybe he hadn’t been vague enough. She knew exactly what had happened to him! She still didn’t seem like she had anything against him, though, so Tommy allowed himself to consider that maybe she really wouldn’t betray him, even if he told her exactly what had happened.

_ Nah, I’m not risking that,  _ he decided. “Something stupid,” he admitted, and that was all he would be telling her.

“Hm, alright. Well, I don’t consider myself particularly kindhearted, but even I can’t just look away from a starvin’ kid on the streets. Whattaya say we go get a bite to eat? My treat,” she proposed, sliding a single gloved hand out of her pocket and extending it to Tommy.

Ah. A decision, then. Trust her, or run away. He doubted she would chase him. He could get away easily, and then he could spend his new money on food for himself, and maybe even get some new shoes. He didn’t need her charity.

But… Well, Tommy was a social person at heart. He didn’t like being alone. He knew that it wasn’t the smartest or the safest decision, but he was honestly so deprived of non-aggressive human interaction that he was willing to risk it for a decent conversation. 

Pathetic, he knew, but he couldn’t really find it within himself to care as he reached out and clasped her hand in his own. She smiled at him warmly.

\----------

Tommy promptly found himself shoveling down a plethora of foods that he didn’t care enough to identify. His stomach had become a painful, gnawing pit in the time that he had been running, so he had learned not to be picky about what he fed it. Anything to make the pain stop.

The woman stared down at him amusedly, taking respectable bites of her own sandwich. Tommy definitely felt like he was being judged, but, as for many of the things in his life as of late, he didn’t particularly care. She could judge all she wanted, but she would still be the one paying for this meal. Tommy wouldn’t be losing anything.

“Hungry?” She asked, lips quirked up as she swept her eyes over the two plates that Tommy had nearly cleared.

He returned her question by leveling her with an unimpressed stare.  _ Duh.  _

“Alright, alright! I get it, not much to eat out here without money. No wonder you’re a wanted criminal, then, if ya looked at the nobles like that,” she laughed, setting down the crust of her sandwich. She was well off, then, if she was willing to waste food.

It might sound absurd, but it’s true that you could become a wanted criminal for looking the wrong way at the nobles. Anything that they decided was offensive, or even just not respectful enough, they could pin a bounty on you for. The guards got paid well enough that many of them didn’t care about who they captured or killed anymore as long as they got their paycheck, so the nobles had gradually built up more power than they ever should have had.

Still, Tommy had done much worse than just looking at them wrong. It was actually painfully optimistic of him to think that there might  _ not _ be a bounty yet.

Once Tommy finally scarfed down the last morsel of food that was available to him, the woman tried for a conversation once again.

“Where do ya think you’ll go once you leave here?” She asked, eyes sparkling with curiosity.

“Just… farther away from the capital. That’s all I’ve been doing, running away,” he admitted. It kind of concerned him how willingly he was telling her these things, but he chalked it down to just being too open now that he finally had someone to talk to.

“Any farther an’ you’ll be walkin’ through the forest. Sure ya wanna head out that way?”

Tommy paused. Had he really made it that far already? That wasn’t good.

“I know somewhere safe that you could hide, if ya trusted me enough to go there. There’re plenty of people like you there, people who’re being hunted for nothin’. You’ll be safe there,” she offered, meeting his eyes. Tommy didn’t think she looked like she was lying, but he was also shit at figuring those things out. He couldn’t trust his own judgement, especially not when it came to following a stranger to who-knows-where when they know that you’re a wanted criminal. No, Tommy didn’t think that sounded like a good idea at all.

He let his suspicion show on his face. “I’ll pass.”

The woman sighed. “Well, at least I tried. If ya ever need some help from people like you, just ask around about the bluebird. The first person who tells ya ‘bout somethin’ that’s not actually a bird can take you there,” she explained. Then, without another word, she dropped a few emeralds on their table and walked away. Tommy was alone again.

He sat there considering his next move for a few minutes, but he had to leave the restaurant before long, as people were starting to stare. Right, he still looked just as dirty as he felt. He left without any further fanfare.

_ Guess I’m going to the forest, then. _

\----------

Tommy really wished that he had taken that woman up on her offer. His breath came in gasps as he pushed his weak, malnourished body to run just a bit faster, just a bit longer. He heard the vegetation being trampled behind him, bones rattling as another arrow was nocked and ready to fire. He quickly spun and ran to the left, hearing the projectile _fwoosh_ as it sliced through the air where his head had just been.

His legs were weak and trembling, and he barely felt like he could even stand at this point, but he had to keep going. He couldn’t fight, and now, it was starting to seem like running wouldn’t even be enough anymore. He was fucked.

His first day in the forest hadn’t been that bad. Neither had the first night. He had bought enough food to last him at least a week, and he planned to buy some new clothes whenever he decided to head back to the outskirts of the city. Wherever there’s a city or town, there are many light sources scattered through the surrounding wilderness, specifically to prevent monsters like this from wandering too close. His first night was spent surrounded by clumsily hung lanterns, which he now understood were a truly necessary safety net. Now, he didn’t have that.

He had spent the entirety of the last day roaming deeper into the forest, farther away from the densely populated capital and the smaller towns surrounding it. Farther away from safety. He was an  _ idiot,  _ and he was too busy kicking around the autumn leaves to worry about bringing a light source, which would be imperative if he was planning on doing any kind of adventuring at night.

His eyes darted over his surroundings, searching for anything that he could use to get out of this mess. All he saw were trees, trees, and oh, would you look at that,  _ trees. _

Wait.  _ Trees! _ Tommy was truly disappointed in his own stupidity. He looked around just a bit more, spotted a tree with a low hanging branch that he could reach, and dashed straight for it. He heard another arrow fly by, felt a line of fire light up on his left leg, but he ignored it. He paused for just a moment at the base of the tree, then jumped and grabbed the branch, scrambling up with what remained of his strength. Then, he worked to haul himself higher and higher, until there were enough branches beneath him to serve as suitable cover. The skeleton would have a hell of a time trying to hit him now!

It was only after he heard an arrow get lodged in the branches beneath him that he realized his predicament: he was stuck. Sure, the skeleton wasn’t very likely to hit him, since their aim was already subpar at best and there was a net of branches between them, but when all he could do was sit and wait for it to run out of arrows, he became painfully aware of how each shot fired could be the death of him. He could barely move through the dense branches, and he’d just get shot and die if he tried to go back down, so he was well and truly trapped. Now he felt even  _ more  _ stupid.

He screamed and flinched away from an arrow that sliced through the branches to embed itself in the wood right beside his head. Tommy whispered many swear words that would’ve once earned him a stern lecture from his mom, but he didn’t care anymore. He shuffled around in the tiny amount of space available to him, suddenly unable to hold still as his body was overcome with nerves. He couldn’t do anything, he couldn’t go anywhere!

_ Holy fuck, I’m gonna die,  _ Tommy thought as he peered through the branches to find the skeleton aiming towards him, drawing the bowstring back and pointing it  _ right at him– _

His would-be executioner suddenly clattered to the ground as whatever strange force usually held skeletons together gave out alongside the back of its skull. The man, who had literally come out of nowhere, as far as Tommy could tell, stood up straight after the force of the blow he had used to kill the skeleton had pitched him forward. His lantern cast a pale, orange glow over the dull stone axe that he wielded, but even the blunt edge was apparently more than enough to deal with a skeleton if you were strong enough.

Tommy let out a relieved gasp, only just realizing that he had started hyperventilating in what he assumed would be his final moments. The man on the ground looked up at the noise, and Tommy immediately seized up as he remembered that he was still a wanted criminal, and there was undoubtedly a bounty on him at this point. He wasn’t naive enough to try and convince himself that there wasn’t one, not anymore.

“Hey!” The man called, causing Tommy to flinch violently enough that he heard the leaves rustle on the end of the branch that he was perched on. “You okay? I heard a scream! Did it get you? I can help you down, if you need it!”

Tommy pressed his lips together and quickly shook his head, then remembered that the man probably couldn’t see him because it was still night time. Even with the glow of the lantern, Tommy doubted that the man could see him well enough to make out small motions like that. He had to speak.

“Uh, I’m fine!” He called. “I’ll just… stay up here, until the sun comes up and it’s safe again. Thank you!” He added. Surely that would be enough to let the man know that Tommy had no desire for company.

“You sure?” The man asked, shifting his lantern forward and giving Tommy a perfect view of his concerned face. “I can’t stick around all night, and if another skeleton comes by, you might end up in a sticky situation. I don’t mind letting you stay the night at my house, just to be safe.”

Against his better judgement, Tommy actually considered it. This guy lived in the middle of the forest, surely he had no way of knowing who Tommy was. If he didn’t know about the criminal thing or the bounty, then Tommy would just seem like a kid. As much as he hated to hope, he thought that this might actually turn out well.

After a few beats of silence, Tommy decided,  _ fuck it,  _ and started climbing down the tree. The cut that he hadn’t really noticed on his leg sent stabs of pain on his way down, but he ignored it. Soon enough, his feet were back on the ground, right in front of the man and the remains of the skeleton. Tommy waited anxiously as the man seemed to give him a once-over.  _ Don’t recognize me, don’t recognize me,  _ he mentally pleaded.

Tommy wasn’t sure if he should’ve felt relieved or afraid when the man didn’t say anything. He didn’t seem to recognize Tommy, but he also didn’t even comment on his disheveled appearance. There was no going back now, as Tommy was practically dead on his feet and he now had a wound on his leg. He couldn’t climb back up, and he couldn’t just stay out here, so now he had no choice but to go with the man.

The walk to his house was fairly brief, and they made enough awkward smalltalk for Tommy to learn a few things about the stranger. For one, his name was Derek and he was married and had two kids. His wife was in the capital and wasn’t expected to return for a few days at least, which served as a great relief to Tommy. If she had been to the capital, she had definitely heard of him. He wondered if his wanted posters actually looked like him.

Tommy didn’t tell the man much about himself. He told him that his name was George, the first name that popped into his mind, and he had gotten lost on the way to his friend’s house in the forest. Not exactly the greatest excuse, he knew, but Derek didn’t ask any questions so Tommy wasn’t too concerned.

Derek also noticed Tommy limping and offered to help patch up his leg, which Tommy immediately accepted. He would not be able to go on with a limp for very long, after all. This was an easy way to take care of that problem with no issues.

Tommy’s mood darkened when he saw the man’s house. It was a fine house, fit to house a family and equipped with a barn and a garden in the back. It just… reminded him of his old house.

He shook his head to clear those thoughts before he got emotional, then turned to Derek when he started speaking again.

“All of our rooms are taken, but I can just have my son sleep with his sister tonight, and you can have his room. You know how kids are, they’ll sleep anywhere,” he rambled.

Tommy absently nodded along, then zoned out, thinking about his old home and his family and what he had lost. Shaking his head apparently hadn’t actually been enough to banish his thoughts, shockingly.

Derek brought out some supplies to patch up Tommy’s wound once they were inside, which definitely stung since he also disinfected it. Tommy was a bit occupied, so it didn’t actually bother him that much. His mind was elsewhere, reliving his happiest memories and then… the worst one.

_ “Your parents should’ve taught you to watch that mouth of yours, boy.” _

Tommy bolted away the moment that Derek cut the final bandage and completed the job. He muttered quiet thanks as he dashed to the hallway, suddenly wanting nothing more than to be alone. He opened the first door on his left, saw two confused children staring up at him from where they were sitting on the bed, then promptly slammed the door and turned around to go to the other room. This one was blessedly empty, though the walls were smothered with cringey kids’ drawings.

Tommy laid himself out on the bed and allowed himself a moment to really think. It was all his fault that he was in this situation, that he was homeless and alone, that his parents were…

Tommy sniffled, and though he would never admit it, there was no one present so he decided to just let it out, for once. He let the tears fall, felt them trailing down his face and dripping into the pillow below him, but there was no one he could blame these feelings on but himself. Just like always, he was nothing better than what everyone thought he was: stupid, loud, reckless Tommy. He could practically see them, everyone that used to be his neighbors staring and watching silently as Tommy was forced to flee or die, his old friends laughing and jeering as he went. His feet slammed on the ground with each terror-fueled step that he took, but he knew that he could only run for so long before–

“Aw man, I don’t want to watch this!” Someone cried, and Tommy immediately snapped his eyes open and bolted up to look at them. He saw a boy, maybe his age, with brown hair. His hands were covering his eyes and he had turned to face the wall adjacent to Tommy. “Why am I even here?!”

“Good question, who the fuck are you?!” Tommy responded, letting his anger be heard in his voice. He didn’t get a good look at Derek’s children before, since he was kind of in a hurry, but he could only assume that this was the usual inhabitant of this room, the son whose name Tommy didn’t care enough to remember. “Aren’t you supposed to be with your sister?”

The boy startled violently, flinching hard enough that Tommy actually saw his feet leave the ground. He nervously shifted the fingers over his right eye and peered out at Tommy through the gaps, and Tommy could clearly see the brown iris of his eye in full when it widened as it met his own. The boy gasped, leaving Tommy feeling even more confused.

“You can see me?!”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> basically no editing on this chapter so... yeah, there's that.
> 
> here we go again.

“What the fuck? Of course I can see you, you’re right in front of me! Do I look stupid to you?”

The boy fully removed his hands from his head, then shook it frantically when Tommy finished speaking. “N-no! It’s just that no one has ever been able to see me when I’m like this before…” He clarified. Tommy noticed that this kid seemed awfully shy and nervous for someone who broke into this room while he was crying. Maybe it was actually true that he somehow didn’t mean to?

Tommy narrowed his eyes. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“It’s like… sometimes, when I go to sleep, I wake up and I’m somewhere else. No one knows I’m there and all I can do is sit and watch until I wake up  _ again, _ and I know I’m not dreaming.”

Tommy blinked. “Bullshit.”

The boy sputtered. “Wh– no! Phil said that my soul might be drawn to something, but I don’t really know what that means. But it’s not bull– uh, it’s the truth!” His eyes hardened defensively.

Tommy shrugged, settling back on the bed and decisively covering the wet spot on the pillow. He was no longer concerned, this guy seemed totally harmless. “Maybe you’re just stupid,” he suggested.

The boy’s eyebrows scrunched up and his cheeks puffed out with irritation. This was officially the least threatening display Tommy had ever seen. “No I’m not, you’re stupid!” He countered. “...Who are you, anyways?” He added, suddenly curious.

Tommy grinned, some of his old cocky attitude rising to the surface once more. “Glad you asked! I’m–” Tommy paused.

…Should he really tell this guy his name? He didn’t really think that this was Derek’s son anymore, but he still knew next to nothing about him. Should he just say his name was George again?

…Tommy didn’t think he wanted to have to hear another person call him by a name not his own.

“...Tommy,” he finished at last. The boy blinked at the odd pause, but let the moment pass without question. Tommy was silently grateful to him.

Then, the boy suddenly beamed, and Tommy froze at the sheer brightness of it. How was this humanly possible?!

“Hi, Tommy! I’m Toby, but my friends call me Tubbo. It’s nice to meet you, even though it’s kind of… awkward, in here,” his enthusiasm dwindled towards the end of his words. “Sorry for intruding,” he added. 

Tommy supposed that he could accept the apology, since Toby really didn’t seem like he actively tried to come into Tommy’s space at all, especially while he was crying. After exchanging only a few words with him, Tommy was pretty certain that Toby really wasn’t the kind of person to barge in unannounced. Still, his understanding didn’t mean that the issue was automatically settled.

“So why did your bullshit dream powers bring you in my room, anyways?” Tommy asked. The thought was too pressing in his mind to wait any longer to ask.

Toby shrugged. “I don’t know. Every time this happens, I end up in the most random places! Last time, I was in the middle of the forest, and before that I was in some shabby town with a lot of people that looked really mean. I haven’t noticed anything special about any of the places that I’ve been to,” he explained.

“Hm. Fine, I believe you. Maybe you can learn to control it and come to me, and then you can be like, my ghost spy or something,” Tommy proposed.

Toby shook his head. “I don’t think there’s a way for me to get more control over it. I probably won’t see you again after I wake up,” he admitted, and Tommy noticed that he actually looked quite disappointed.

“Oh. Well that’s stupid. Why don’t you ask that Phil guy how to control it? He seems to have an idea of what’s going on.” Tommy asked.

“I… didn’t exactly tell them what’s happening. I said that I was having weird dreams about places that I’ve never seen before, because I didn’t want to sound crazy. I think he might have said that as a joke…” Toby admitted. 

Tommy rolled his eyes. “So tell him then! I don’t know about you, but this seems pretty real to me. Plus, I don’t think it’s possible for anyone to dream up someone as awesome as me.”

Toby hummed in thought. “I… I guess I could try that… Yeah, maybe we’ll see each other again some time, Tommy!” Toby did another one of those disturbingly bright smiles of his. Tommy just averted his eyes.

“Yeah, maybe. If I see your stupid face again, then I’ll know for sure that you actually do have weird superpowers or whatever. I won’t lie though, randomly turning into a ghost sounds like a pretty rubbish superpower to me.”

Toby flushed. “I don’t want superpowers, anyway! I’d prefer this over something that would actually affect my life or make me a target for the nobles or, even worse, the king. At least no one can tell that I can do this.”

And, well, that was fair. Tommy certainly didn’t want to have explosive sneezes or some shit that would just make it even easier for the guards to track him down. Any of the rare few who displayed some sort of magical ability immediately became targets, seen as nothing more than things to be used as weapons, or to be subdued. No one with powerful magic could live a peaceful life unless they could hide it or fight off an entire army.

“Alright, I guess that makes sense,” Tommy conceded. “But I should probably mention that I came in here to  _ sleep. _ These past few days have been absolute shit, so, if you wouldn’t mind…” Tommy made a gesture for Toby to leave. Yes, he kind of felt like a dick, but he wasn’t lying about his exhaustion. Nothing sounded better than sleep at that moment.

Toby definitely looked a bit disappointed, but his expression mostly just conveyed his understanding. “Okay, I can't really go back to where I came from until I wake up, but I can just… go do something else until then, I guess. I’m used to just sitting and waiting now, anyways,” he said. He then displayed a much softer smile than the blinding ones he had dished out earlier. “It was nice meeting you, Tommy. If we see each other again, call me Tubbo, okay?”

Tommy nodded, offering a rare, genuine smile in return. “Of course I will. And you’d better come back, or I’ll track you down myself! You hear me?” Tommy threatened.

Toby just nodded, his smile taking on a more amused note. “Alright, I’ll do my best then! See you!” He got up and waved, which Tommy reciprocated, and then he just… phased through the door, and he was gone. Tommy chose to put off thinking about the sheer otherworldliness of what he had just witnessed until he had slept. His brain wasn’t equipped to deal with that quite yet. 

Tommy couldn’t help but wonder if that was really the end of it.

Even though he was dead tired, Tommy had a bit of trouble falling asleep for a while after Toby left. His mind was busy, but this time it wasn’t with anything that made him want to cry. Instead, the thoughts rushing through his mind were of friendship, of having an unorthodox companion to fill the void of human interaction that Tommy had been lacking for so long. As tired as he was, those thoughts filled him with an excitement that kept his eyes wide open for quite a while.

…He hoped that he would see Tubbo again.

\----------

Tommy awoke to the sound of wagon wheels crunching the autumn leaves carpeting the land outside, along with the steady footfalls of a horse. Those sounds then came to a halt just outside the house.  _ Someone was there. _

Tiredness forgotten, Tommy leapt out of the bed, carelessly tossing the blankets aside as he scrambled to get to the window as quickly as possible. There, outside, was a pleasant-looking woman with a smile on her face and a shining ring on her finger. Derek’s wife, he assumed. She had come home early.

That… wasn’t good. She had been in the capital, and depending on the accuracy of Tommy’s wanted posters, she might just recognize him with one glance. He had to get out without letting her see him, or there would surely be an army of guards storming to his location within a few hours. In theory, that seemed like quite a while, but Tommy knew that no head start would be able to save him when he was on foot and they were on horseback. If they learned where he was, he would die.

He continued watching through the window as Derek ran outside to greet the woman, confirming Tommy’s theory that this was his wife when he tightly embraced her and pressed their lips together. The sight was enough to make Tommy decide that he did not want to watch anymore, so he instead shifted his attention to gathering his belongings. Maybe if he got his shit together before they came back inside, he could disappear long before that woman had a chance to see him.

Deciding that that definitely seemed like the way to go, Tommy immediately rushed out of his temporary room. He was pretty sure that he had just dropped his stuff somewhere right when he first came in with Derek yesterday, since he was tired and a bit out of it. He resented his own forgetfulness when he realized that he had absolutely no idea where it was. He ran around the main room of the house, looking under furniture and pillows and blankets, yet his small, worn bag was nowhere to be found. All of his new money was in there, he couldn’t leave without it.

At long last, Tommy finally caught a glimpse of the familiar, faded brown of his bag: abandoned and lying on the floor alongside a ridiculous quantity of children’s toys. He dashed straight for it, but just as he wrapped his fingers around it, he heard the turning of the front door knob. They were coming inside!

_ Shit, shit, oh fuck–  _ Tommy’s thoughts pretty much devolved into a constant stream of swears as he frantically searched for a place to hide. A small, rational part of him told him that hiding wasn’t the answer here: this was their home, and they wouldn’t be going anywhere. He would have to stay hidden for the entire day until they went to bed, which he knew he couldn’t manage. Subtlety was not exactly Tommy’s forte.

The door swung open, and Tommy froze. He had wasted what little time he had to figure out what to do. He met the eyes of Derek’s wife, who almost immediately shouted in alarm as she recognized him. Tommy decided not to listen as she quickly told Derek about who he was, and he instead shifted his focus to his escape. The door was obviously not an option, but if he went back to jump out one of the windows, they could just walk outside and stop him from running. 

That was only if they cared about the bounty, though. If their only concern was the criminal in their house, then they might just let him leave. That was the only bit of hope that Tommy had to go off of, so he spun on his heel and dashed back towards the boy’s room as quickly as he could, without any warning. The woman immediately shrieked, likely assuming that he was after their kids. Yeah, maybe he shouldn’t have run down the hall, in hindsight.

Well, it was too late to turn back. He opened the first door on the  _ right _ , remembering that the kids had both been in the left room last time, and zeroed in on his literal window to freedom. He dived straight for it, finally diverting some attention to his other senses, only to hear the sound of the front door slamming shut as the couple presumably rushed outside to pursue him. Great.

_ Please, please let me go!  _ He mentally pleaded.

His landing was not a graceful one, and he was now sporting a few shallow cuts from the glass that he had literally jumped through, but he didn’t have time to pay them any mind. He grunted as he pushed himself back to his feet, clutching his bag to his chest. His wounded leg throbbed from all of the exercise. He could only hope that it would carry his weight for long enough to get away.

He heard rapidly approaching footsteps thundering towards him, angry, incoherent words being thrown his way, and he knew that he wouldn’t get away. They were upset, he was a criminal, they thought he was a threat to everyone, and he couldn’t run. 

But that didn’t mean that he couldn’t try.

He took a deep breath, braced for some pain, and dashed with all his might, just as he had done in so many situations similar to this one. He heard the woman gasping for breath, somehow already exhausted. She must not have much work to do on a regular basis, to be so unfit. Derek had also stopped, but Tommy was confused. He heard no heavy breathing, so Derek wasn’t exhausted, yet he wasn’t pursuing him, either. Maybe… maybe Derek was letting him go?

Tommy spared a glance behind him, only to see Derek, his face twisted in fury and his right arm wound back, fist clutching something tightly. He flung his arm forward, releasing the object, which turned out to be a rock, and sending it flying straight at Tommy’s head.

_ Oh, oh fuck, that’s a nice throw– _

\----------

“–mmy? Tommy, are you okay?! What’s happening, why are you tied up? Please wake up!”

Tommy was slowly dragged back into consciousness by an insistent voice. He groaned as he cracked his eyes open, only to find them sliding shut once again. They felt strangely heavy.

“Mmm… five more minutes, please… I’m tired…” He mumbled.

“No! No, Tommy, wake up, something’s wrong! Please?”

It took his muddled brain a few moments to recognize the voice, but Tommy finally realized that this was Tubbo! And he didn’t sound very happy to see him again. What was happening?

Tommy decided that Tubbo was right, waking up definitely seemed like a good idea now. He tried to stretch, only to find his movement restricted by something binding his wrists together behind his back. After that realization struck him, Tommy was almost immediately wide awake, the events prior to his forced sleep rushing back to him. His eyes snapped open and instantly zeroed in on Tubbo, who looked so concerned that Tommy thought he might cry. What a baby.

“Oh shit! Tubbo, this is not good, I’m so fucked!” He scrambled to his feet, which took a slightly embarrassing amount of time and effort without proper use of his arms. As he did so, he looked around and saw that he was in Derek’s son’s room once again, only this time, the window seemed hastily boarded up and he assumed that the door was locked, trapping him inside.

“Tommy, what’s happening?! This is scary!” Tubbo pleaded.

Tommy cringed. This was sure to be a fun conversation. “They, uh… they found out about me,” he began.

“What could they have found out to warrant  _ this?!” _

“I’m… kiiiind of a wanted criminal?”

Tubbo paused. His expression slowly shifted until he was looking at Tommy very differently, almost as if he was afraid. But then, he shook his head and closed his eyes, and when they opened again, they were hardened and determined. “You couldn’t have done anything too bad! You’re not that kind of person, but even if you were, you’re like, my age! All of this is unnecessary,” Tubbo decided. Then, he locked eyes with Tommy once again, letting a bit of concern shine through once more. “But… What  _ did  _ you do?” He asked.

Tommy looked down at the floor. “I… well, maybe… maybe we can talk about this later, once I get out of here. I’m not sure what time it is, but I don’t want to waste time that I could be using to escape. Will you help me?” He asked, looking up at Tubbo expectantly.

Tubbo bit his bottom lip, eyes darting around the room as he fidgeted in nervous thought. But then, he nodded, resolute. “Okay, I’ll help you. What can I do?”

“Uh… Oh! Look around the house for two adults, and once you find them, come back and tell me what they’re doing. This will be  _ way _ easier if they’re asleep,” he concluded. Tubbo was here, meaning that he was asleep, and Tommy could tell by the lack of light piercing through the gaps in the window that it was night time, so it was pretty likely that they were sleeping.

Tubbo nodded. “Okay, I’ll be back in a minute, then,” he said. Tommy looked away as Tubbo phased through the door once again, still uncomfortable with the sight.

While Tubbo was gone, Tommy walked over to the boarded up window. He started by looking around for any shards of glass that he could use to cut the rope around his wrists, but it seemed that his captors at least had the foresight to clean those up. There was nothing of use.

The window had clearly been boarded up in a hurry, and it would’ve been simple enough to break through if only Tommy could use his hands. He considered trying to kick through them, but after falling on his ass just once, he accepted that it was impossible in his current state. His bad leg collapsed under his weight whenever he raised his good one for the kick, and he obviously couldn’t kick with his bad leg. Breaking out would be pointless if he was left immobilized by a useless leg. He couldn’t get out through the window.

Just to be sure, he made his way over the door and awkwardly turned the handle from behind. Just as he thought, it was locked. He sighed, stumped. He had no idea what to do.

Before Tommy could think any deeper about how screwed he was, Tubbo phased back inside with an unreadable expression. “They’re just going to sleep now,” he began, “but before they went to bed, the woman said that she would head back to town in the morning to tell the guards.”

Great. That meant that if Tommy didn’t get away tonight, he would be caught. He was sure that Tubbo understood that, as well. He wasn’t quite  _ that  _ stupid.

“Okay.  _ Okay, _ I don’t know how to get out of here, but I‘ll… no, we’ll just have to find a way, won’t we?” Tommy spared Tubbo a glance as he nodded with a small, hopeful smile. He appreciated the sight, but he was mostly focused on thinking of ideas. Most of them proved impossible or just plain useless, but eventually, he was struck by one that, while unlikely, might just work. A plan began to form, a small thread weaving into something larger, something hopeful.

“Tubbo… can you touch things when you’re like this?” Tommy asked.

Tubbo shrugged. “I don’t think so, since I kinda just go through everything, but I’ve never really tried. Why?”

“Do you think you could unlock the door?”

Tubbo’s eyes lit up like stars. “Oh! Okay, I’ll go try!” He was gone before Tommy could even think of responding.

At least a few minutes passed with Tommy anxiously waiting, but his heart leapt in the air when he heard the door knob jiggle, followed immediately by a short  _ click. _ Did Tubbo really…?

His question was quickly answered when Tubbo poked his head through the door, face plastered with his brightest grin yet. Tommy smiled back, sharp and genuine, equally excited.

“I did it! Tommy, I actually unlocked the door! It was actually really hard, which is kind of embarrassing, but that doesn’t matter because we can go! C’mon!”

Tommy ran to the door and repeated the same awkward motion from earlier, only this time, the door creaked open. He pulled it open with his foot, then poked his head out to see if there was anyone out there, even though he was pretty sure that Tubbo would’ve warned him. He was just being careful.

“Tubbo, are there two kids sleeping in that room right there?” Tommy asked. He didn’t want to walk back to the main room only to be met with two kids who would  _ definitely _ shout and give him away if their parents had told them about him.

Tubbo quickly poked his head through the door, then came back out and nodded. “Yeah, you should be clear,” he confirmed.

With his concerns abated, Tommy dashed out of his would-be prison without any more hesitation. Before he went back in the forest, he had to find his stuff,  _ again. _ He also needed to find something to cut the rope off his wrists with, but he didn’t think that would be very difficult, They probably had knives in their kitchen.

He was relieved to find his things waiting, clearly visible, on top of a table. It was all spread out, so Tommy assumed that the couple had gone through his things. He doubted they were impressed by his belongings: a compass, his money, the food that he had bought before coming out here, a flask for water, and the bag that contained it all. That was everything that Tommy owned, aside from the clothes on his back.

One glance at his displaced items was enough for Tommy to know that he needed to untie himself before he could gather them. “I need a knife or something,” he told Tubbo as he walked towards the kitchen. It didn’t take long to find one, but it  _ did _ take a while to saw through the rope. He may or may not have cut himself a few times while trying to adjust his grip, but it wasn’t anything dangerous. After wiggling around for a painfully long time, the rope finally fell to the floor, slack, and Tommy flicked his wrists around to alleviate the pain from having them forced in that position for so long. 

He decided to take the knife with him, since he now had a better idea of what kind of shit he could get himself into without a weapon. Then, he made short work of packing his things, took one more cursory look around the house, and left.

Once he was outside, he immediately turned in a random direction to start running as quickly as he was able while injured, but Tubbo stopped him.

“Wait! Maybe you should take the horse. It’ll slow them down so the guards won’t hear about you too soon, and you won’t have to walk on that leg,” he suggested.

Tommy turned to Tubbo and blinked, impressed. “That’s… actually a good idea. Maybe you’re not so stupid after all, Tubbo!” He smirked, turning towards the fence post that the horse had been carelessly tied on to. He assumed that the couple had been a bit too distracted to worry about the horse once they noticed him, and then they had just forgotten to take it to the barn. Oh well, that was good news for Tommy.

He casually walked towards it, no longer even the slightest bit concerned. He was pretty much a free man at this point, all thanks to himself and Tubbo working so well together. Tommy definitely still did most of the work, though. He’d almost gotten away all on his own!

The knot wasn’t difficult to untie, and then they both just had to mount the thing. Tubbo could apparently still ride a horse in this state, which seemed a bit strange, but Tommy didn’t care enough to question it. They exchanged a celebratory high five, which they both pretended Tubbo didn’t just phase through, and then they were off, galloping in whichever random direction seemed best, together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tubbo is now one of my favorite characters to write. seriously, how can one human be so precious?
> 
> that's all lol. hope you enjoyed the chapter.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ah yes, another chapter.
> 
> before we begin, i would like to say that this one isn't quite as eventful as the first two. it's also just a bit shorter, but not by much. however, i am very much an action/angst addicted person, so not all of the chapters from now on will be like this, trust me. this is just a necessary chapter for the build up of what's to come.
> 
> with that being said, enjoy the chapter. :)
> 
> *edit: i noticed a tiny but very annoying mistake right after i posted this, so i fixed it.

Tommy didn’t really pay any mind to where he was going. He was used to running around without a specific goal, and he knew how to get back to the outskirts of the capital if he needed to buy anything, so he wasn’t concerned. The only thing that bothered him was the possibility of being attacked by mobs while on the move at night, but any who spotted them thankfully decided that they weren’t worth the effort, probably because of the horse, which was running far too quickly for any of them to keep up. What a relief.

On the contrary, he could practically sense Tubbo’s growing concern and confusion as he realized that they weren’t really running in any particular direction. He saw his friend’s next words coming from miles away.

“Um… Where are we going?” Tubbo asked, raising his voice to be heard over the crunching of fallen leaves under the horse’s hooves.

Tommy shrugged. “Dunno. I usually just run around until I need more shit, then I go find a store and buy it. With money. That I have.”

Tubbo frowned. “Don’t you have a place to stay?” He asked.

“Pfft, no. Why would I have slept in some cringey kid’s room with a guy that I’ve never met if I had a house? I’m on the run, Tubbo, remember?” He explained. He would’ve expected his lack of a home to be obvious but, well… maybe Tubbo just didn’t want to believe that Tommy was really in such deep shit. That was understandable enough, he supposed.

“Oh… Yeah, I guess…” he trailed off. “How did that happen again? You said that you’d tell me once we got away,” he asked carefully, clearly aware that he was broaching a sensitive topic.

Tommy took a deep breath. Yes, he had said that. Okay, he could do this, he could talk about it. All he had to do was open his mouth and tell the story. “Uh, yeah that was, uh… I–”

_ “We’ll even give you a head start! Go on, scurry away, little rat. Run before the cat loses his patience with you.” _

Tommy flinched at the memory. He stared straight ahead as tears started to pool in his eyes, hoping the wind would somehow dry them up before Tubbo could see them. He was a grown man, dammit, he wasn’t supposed to cry! “I… uh…” 

_ None of his neighbors would meet his eyes. He desperately hoped for something, some kind of help or support or  _ anything,  _ but those who didn’t laugh and encourage him to run and hide just looked away, as if that somehow made them the good guys. He… he didn’t have a choice, did he? He didn’t have anyone to cover his back, not anymore. _

Tommy’s words were lodged in his throat. Would Tubbo think differently of him? Would he ever come back if he knew what Tommy had caused? He didn’t want that to happen, he wanted to have someone to talk to, even if it could only last a little bit longer. It might hurt even more to tell him later, but Tommy didn’t want to lose his only friend so soon.

“...I don’t think I want to talk about this, Tubbo,” Tommy admitted. “I… every time I try to say it, I just…” Tommy made strange motions with his hands, flailing them around in frustration as if that could somehow convey his feelings for him. Doing this almost caused him to fall off of the horse, so he quickly returned to holding the reins as he was supposed to.

Tubbo seemed to understand, though. Tommy took a look behind him and saw that his already kind eyes had softened. “It’s okay, Tommy. You don’t have to tell me yet if you don’t want to,” he reassured. 

Tommy just pressed his lips together and nodded, not trusting his voice enough to respond. He was sure that Tubbo understood how grateful he was, even if he didn’t say it.

They rode on in silence for a few minutes, not exactly awkward, but not comfortable, either. Just… silence. Eventually, Tubbo was the one who broke it.

“I get that you don’t have a place to stay, but do you at least have a plan? You can’t just randomly run around in the forest forever, even if you do go shopping every now and then.”

Tommy sighed. “What else am I meant to do? If I stay too close to the capital, someone is bound to recognize me and report me at some point. This seems like the easiest option to me.”

Tubbo shifted awkwardly in his seat. “I… Might have an idea? For where you could go, I mean. It’s not perfect, and it’s not guaranteed to work out, but I think it at least sounds better than, you know, what you’ve been doing, so maybe you should–”

“Oh my god, just spit it out already! I’m listening!” Tommy interrupted, impatient.

“Okay, okay! I was just thinking that, maybe… you could come stay with me? So we could actually see each other in person, you know, and then you’d also be super safe because Techno is there, and I’m sure everyone would be fine if I just told them that we’re friends, so I really think that this could work!” Tubbo finished, panting a bit after rushing to say all of that as quickly as possible.

“...Has anyone ever told you that you talk too much, Tubbo?”

Tommy didn’t even have to look to know that Tubbo was blushing. He barely managed to contain his snicker, but he didn’t bother trying to hide his grin. He was facing away from Tubbo, anyways.

“I was just trying to make you a kind offer–” Tubbo cut himself off to take a deep breath, then started speaking again. “Nevermind. Just… what do you think? Do you want to stay with me?” He asked.

Tommy hesitated. He knew that he had been perhaps a bit too trusting of people that he barely knew as of late, but this was  _ Tubbo! _ He had saved Tommy’s life by unlocking that door!

...But Derek had also saved Tommy’s life, only to turn on him the moment that he learned who he really was. Who’s to say that Tubbo would be any different?

He turned his head to glance at his companion. Tubbo was staring right back at him, a pair of big, brown eyes brimming with hope. Against his better judgement, the sight got Tommy thinking that maybe, just maybe, things would turn out differently this time.

“Alright,” Tommy agreed before he could think too hard about it, as he was wont to do. “Yeah, sure, why the fuck not. Where do you live, Tubbo, let’s just head on over there now!”

There was an awkward pause. “Um, I can’t tell if you’re being serious or not,” Tubbo finally admitted. “Do you really want to go?”

“Yeah, I’ve got nothing to lose anymore, really, so why not? I just need you to tell me where to go, and maybe we can make it over there before you even wake up! Have you ever seen your own body from the outside before?”

“Tommy… you don’t have to go if you don’t want to. You don’t sound very happy. We can figure out somewhere else for you to go, if you want,” Tubbo offered, genuine concern seeping into his words.

Tommy deflated. He was trying to sound confident, trying to show Tubbo that he trusted him so much that he wasn’t even afraid to go live with him, but apparently that had just made him sound insincere. He blew out a breath of air.

“No, I-I’m sorry, Tubbo. I want to give it a shot, but I’m just worried, I guess. Remember what happened last time I stayed at someone else’s house? I guess I’m just, heh, I’m just paranoid now. But I want to go. Really, I do. I trust you.”

Tommy chose not to question the pause that followed this statement. Tubbo spoke up again before long, and the moment passed without any fanfare.

“Thanks, I trust you too, Tommy. I live pretty deep in the forest, directly to the east of the capital. I don’t know where we are right now, but I still doubt that you’ll actually be able to make it there tonight. It’s pretty remote. Do you know how to get back to the city from here? We could just circle around,” he suggested.

Tommy nodded. “Yeah, I can get back to the city. I remember the general direction, anyways,” he confirmed. He tugged on the reins to turn the horse the right way. He was really glad that this horse was smart enough to avoid running into trees all on its own, since Tommy barely steered at all. It was truly a lifesaver.

His thoughts were interrupted by Tubbo speaking up again. “Wait, maybe you should find a place to settle down for tonight. You can’t just make this poor horse run forever, and surely you must be tired by now.”

Tommy brushed off his concern. “Nah, I’ll be fine. Sleep is for the weak. And isn’t running the whole point of a horse? This must be a pretty shit horse if it’s already tired, but it doesn’t seem like it, anyways. That’s right, you're not tired, are you, buddy?” Tommy asked, patting the horse, who predictably offered no reply.

Tubbo apparently disagreed. “The only rest you’ve had over the past day was because you were knocked unconscious! And horses do need breaks, they’re living creatures too! You wouldn’t want to spend the whole day running, would you?”

“Poor choice of words for someone who’s on the run,” Tommy reminded. How did Tubbo keep forgetting that? It seemed like a pretty important detail to keep in mind when making new friends, but maybe Tommy was just out of the loop.

“You know that’s not what I–” Tubbo suddenly went quiet, almost as if he had been interrupted. “...Did you hear that?” He asked, looking around confusedly.

“Hear what? Are you stupid  _ and  _ crazy now, Tubbo? Nothing happened,” Tommy questioned, turning to look at Tubbo yet again. He may as well just ride the horse backwards at this point.

“No, there was… I think that sounds like… Oh! Tommy, someone’s waking me up! I’ll be back later, I promise, I know how to find you now so whenever I go back to–”

Tommy was still facing Tubbo, so he witnessed Tubbo waking up for the first time. He was there, looking at Tommy, and then he was gone, blown away with the wind as if he had never been there in the first place. Nothing else changed. The world didn’t react to his disappearance, didn’t shift to accommodate his absence. Tommy wouldn’t have even noticed his departure if he hadn’t said anything, which scared him. If he could vanish without a trace so seamlessly, then he could leave Tommy all alone in just the same way, never to return. And he might not even notice until he spoke and received no response, until he turned and saw nothing, until he  _ needed him _ –

Tommy took a deep, calming breath. He was overreacting. Tubbo had just woken up, as he always would, and he promised to come back. There was no need to panic.

He concluded that he should do something more productive with his time. It wouldn’t be safe for him to go to sleep in the dark without shelter, so he decided that he should probably try to adjust his sleep schedule so that he slept through the day whenever he was in an unpopulated place, that way he could defend himself if anything happened at night. Tubbo appearing only at night definitely played no part in this decision. It was just logic, because Tommy was smart, not sentimental. 

Being nocturnal definitely didn’t sound like a great time, but he reassured himself with the idea that he could return to a normal sleep schedule once he reached Tubbo’s house, which hopefully wouldn’t take too long. Maybe he should take a look at where he was in relation to it, actually. That would give him a better idea of how long it would take to get there.

Tommy pulled out his compass, adjusted it in his grip, looked down and–

Oh shit. That couldn’t be right. He shook it and slapped it against his hand a few times, as if that would change the magnetic attraction that powered it, but the result was the same: the needle was pointing directly to the left. Tommy knew that he was heading towards the capital, he was very careful about keeping track, but that seemed like terrible news now that the compass told him where he really was.

He was heading east, towards the capital. That meant that he was on the west side, with an entire, hostile city between him and Tubbo, who said he lived in the forest directly to the east. Tommy would have to either cut through the center of the city, where anyone who saw his face would recognize him and guards could rush to his location in moments, or he would have to circle around the entire thing, which could take weeks, or even months if he ran into trouble.

...Fuck.

\----------

Once Tommy saw the sun peeking up over the horizon, he decided that it was time to take a break. He found a tree surrounded by a lot of weeds and tied the horse to it, then tried to pour some of his water in its mouth with… limited success. Still, he thought that was probably good enough, so he climbed the tree, got himself in a position that he thought seemed secure enough, and went to sleep.

He didn’t sleep through the entire day, but he was out for long enough that by the time he woke up, it was well into the afternoon. He allowed himself a moment to relax, then climbed back down and went right back to riding towards the capital.

He knew that he was almost there when he started seeing lanterns hanging off of tree branches, increasing in number the farther he ran. As expected, it wasn’t long before he saw houses through the trees. He had reached the outskirts of the capital, meaning that he had to make a decision before he could proceed: did he cut through the center, or walk around the outside?

Well, Tommy knew what he wanted to do, but he thought that it might be a good idea to wait for Tubbo’s input before he made his final decision. He would probably have a decent idea of how best to reach his own house, after all. 

He smeared his blonde hair with dirt and mud before he entered the town, hoping that it would at least serve as some sort of disguise, though it wasn’t incredibly likely that anyone there would recognize him anyways. Better safe than sorry. 

Tommy decided to get a room at the nearest inn while he waited for the sun to set. It had stalls for horses on the outside, thankfully. He left his stolen steed in one of those, giving it an appreciative pat on its snout before heading inside to buy a room. He was perhaps a bit too excited by the prospect of bathing. Sue him, just because he was on the run didn’t mean that he  _ wanted  _ to neglect his personal hygiene.

The woman at the front desk narrowed her eyes when Tommy limped inside. He was very tempted to yell and call her out for being rude, but he knew that wouldn’t do him any favors. Instead, he took a deep breath, walked to the counter, and slammed down his money bag.

“One room, please. Just for today,” he requested.

The woman hummed noncommittally. “Ten emeralds.”

Tommy sputtered. “Wh–  _ ten? _ That’s– that sounds like a bit much, doesn’t it?”

The woman just picked at her nails. “Take it or leave it.”

Tommy took yet another deep breath to prevent himself from punching her in the face, then carefully picked out ten emeralds and laid them out in front of her. He was basically paying ten emeralds for a  _ bath! _ Absurd. Still, he would rather pay for an overpriced room than sit around on the streets, where his chances of being recognized would only grow as time passed. This was definitely much safer.

The woman forced an insincere grin on her face before gesturing for him to walk up the stairs.  _ God, _ what a bitch. Tommy just  _ barely  _ refrained from saying it to her face. His minuscule sense of self preservation was the only reason he even bothered holding back. He knew that it would be better not to make a scene and possibly draw more eyes in his direction.

The room wasn’t anything to write home about: a simple bed, a bathroom (with a tub!), and a desk with a chair, a lamp, and a “do not disturb” sign to hang on the door. Definitely not worth ten emeralds, but Tommy supposed that it would just have to do. It was better than the vast majority of places that he had taken shelter at over the past few months, so he wasn’t  _ really  _ complaining, but he was definitely still upset about the price. He could keep that to himself, though.

The bath was nice, at least. Tommy didn’t really pay any mind to the quality of the soap that was provided, since it all may as well have been the same for someone as dirty as he was. It upset him that he genuinely couldn’t remember the last time he had been clean and tidy. It didn’t always bother him, but now he knew that people could take one look at him and tell that he was homeless, that he was desperate, that he was on his own. He didn’t like that people could see all of his worst qualities so easily now. It also didn’t help that people tended to go on high alert when a homeless person approached them, making it even more difficult to sneak up and take anything. All in all, being able to bathe regularly would definitely be vastly beneficial. 

Ah, if only. At least he could dream.

After spending a very long time in the bath, Tommy finally decided that he was probably clean enough, now. Putting his dirty clothes back on instantly lowered his mood, but he didn’t exactly have many options. He found himself dragging the chair over to the window and sitting, just watching the people on the streets going about their day. He definitely  _ didn’t _ envy them, he was just watching because he was bored, and he was waiting for Tubbo to show up. That was all.

Apparently, his sleep in the tree earlier hadn’t actually been quite enough, as Tommy found himself snapping awake after drifting off several times, but he was sure that would go away once he was on the move again. He was just sleepy now because he was sitting still in a safe place, not because he was actually tired.

By the time Tubbo bothered to show up, Tommy was only half-awake. Much of his energy returned when his friend appeared in front of him, but it was definitely clear that he was still tired.

Tubbo looked around, taking stock of their surroundings. “Huh. Is this a hotel?” He asked, finally turning his attention to Tommy, who just nodded, yawning.

Tubbo narrowed his eyes. “Did you ever sleep?” He asked, suspicious.

“Of course I did!” Tommy replied, indignant. “I slept in a tree for at  _ least _ a few hours! I’m just sleepy because I’ve been waiting for you for so long.”

Tubbo sighed. “If you’re still tired, why don’t you just–”

“Wait! Tubbo, I have something important to ask you!” Tommy interrupted, having suddenly remembered why he bothered waiting for Tubbo in the first place.

Tubbo sighed again. “What is it?”

“Okay, so we’re basically in the worst possible situation right now: I’m on the west side of the capital, and you’re on the east, and I need to get over there as quickly as possible. Should I cut through the city or go around?” He asked, keeping it brief. He was impatient, he wanted to get his answer and then head out as quickly as possible.

Tubbo’s eyebrows furrowed worriedly. “Why would you want to cut through? Go around, that’s too risky,” he replied, equally blunt.

Tommy held out his hands. “Okay, but that would take  _ forever! _ If we go through the city, I can just dye my hair and wear a hat or something, and I could literally save  _ months _ of travel time!” He explained, enunciating his words by gesticulating with his hands.

“ _ Why _ would you even  _ consider _ that? Tommy, all of the nobles who are after your head in the first place live there, and so do the guards! Not to mention the  _ king! _ That’s such a terrible idea, just go around!” He insisted, his tone more aggressive than Tommy had ever heard from him before. They  _ had _ only known each other for two days, though.

Tommy rolled his eyes. “Oh  _ please, _ nothing’s going to happen. The capital is the last place they’ll expect me to go, no one will even think to look around for me there! I’m gonna cut through, no question.”

“Why did you even ask me then, if you’re not going to listen? I really don’t like this idea, Tommy, I’m worried!”

Tommy was about to reply, but then he had a thought: why  _ did _ he wait for Tubbo? He was set on cutting through, and he was well aware that it was almost impossible to change his mind when he was set on something. Was he just looking for validation? Did he just want Tubbo to tell him what a great idea that was?

...No, that couldn’t be right.

“Don’t worry, Tubbo. Everything will be fine, you’ll see. We’re cutting through the capital,” he decided, unswayed.

Tubbo sighed yet again. Tommy actually felt kind of bad for exasperating him so much. Oh well, he couldn’t take his decisions back, and he didn’t want to, anyways.

“Fine, just… please be careful, Tommy. I don’t want anything bad to happen to you,” Tubbo pleaded, fixing Tommy with a fearful look. And, well, how could Tommy say no to that?

Tommy looked anywhere other than at his friend. “Sure, whatever. Of course I’ll be careful, why wouldn’t I? It’s  _ my _ life on the line, after all.”

…

“...And maybe go to sleep? You look tired, Tommy. You can leave tomorrow.”

“...Fine. See you tomorrow, Tubbo.”

Tommy slept more soundly that night than he had for many months.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is very off topic, but i feel the need to say it now: when Techno shows up in this story, his design is pretty much exactly the same as the one in Sad-ist's animation, "Dream vs. Technoblade". I would link it, but i don't know how to do that lol. if you haven't seen it, just... go watch it. what have you been doing with your life?
> 
> also, Tommy and Tubbo banter? very nice. you can expect more of that, it was fun to write. please tell me if you think they're ooc, though. that's basically my biggest concern for this fic.
> 
> and that's pretty much it. thanks for reading!


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> holy shit, the response that this has received is so... positive?? i really didn't expect people to like this so much, especially when it's only just getting started, but i'm definitely not opposed to pleasant surprises. seriously, thank all of you! this is already bigger than i ever thought it would get.
> 
> anyways, this chapter is the longest one so far. it was actually going to be even longer, but i split it because... well, to be honest, i wasn't patient enough to wait to post, and this is already longer than all of the others. what can i say, i really just couldn't wait to share this one with you.
> 
> i could say more but long author's notes bother me, so... i hope you enjoy the chapter. :)

When Tommy woke up again, it was pretty early in the morning of the next day, which definitely didn’t fit with the whole “nocturnal sleep schedule” thing. Oh well, he was in town now, anyways, and there were enough lights scattered around that it was almost impossible for any mobs to show up. He actually might not need to change up his sleep schedule at all anymore, as long as everything went according to plan and he remained in a populated area.

Tubbo was gone, which wasn’t really surprising, but Tommy was still a bit disappointed. He wanted to start his trip through the city with his friend by his side, but there was no way he could wait for the sun to go down  _ again _ before he did anything. Tommy wasn’t even remotely patient enough for that. No, he’d much rather just get moving now.

Tommy double checked to be sure that he had all of his things, which didn’t take long, tucked what remained of the hotel’s soap in his bag, and left. As he walked down the stairs, he was relieved to find that, while his leg was definitely still sore, it wasn’t quite as bad as before. He doubted that he could run on it for very long yet, but he could definitely walk without an obvious limp, now. At least Derek had been kind enough to help him fix his leg before attempting to murder him.

He glared at the lady at the desk as he left, not breaking eye contact until the door to the outside closed between them. Once that was over with, he turned towards the horse stalls, but then he had a thought: wouldn’t it be better not to bring the horse? Not only would he probably stand out more if he led it around everywhere, but he also lacked the money  _ and _ the knowledge to properly care for it. If he left it here, someone would probably take it eventually, so it would almost definitely be better off. He was sure that Tubbo would agree, as well.

Yeah, that sounded like a solid plan. He spared a few moments to head over to its stall, where he gave it one final pat on the nose in thanks, then walked away without any further delay. He didn’t have a super detailed plan for what he would do with this day, but his basic goals included buying new clothes, namely a hat or hood to hide his hair and some of his face, and heading further into town, closer to the city. When the sun went down, he would continue on with Tubbo until he got tired, then he would go to sleep… somewhere. He would cross that bridge when he came to it.

Well, the first part of his plan should be simple enough. All he could really do before he had a disguise was try to stay out of sight and hope that no one recognized him, which was… terrifying, but Tommy could handle it. This town was still far enough away from the city that there probably weren’t many people here who would recognize him, but that didn’t change the fact that there could be someone in the crowd, that any of the people he passed by could easily screw him over.

Yeah, he definitely needed to find some place to buy clothes as quickly as possible. He really didn’t like feeling this anxious all the time.

Tommy kept his head down, walked on the sidelines and hoped that no one paid too much attention to him as he walked down the streets. He raked his eyes over the buildings in front of him again and again, hoping to see a sign or some other indication of a clothing store. After walking for a very uncomfortable, but thankfully rather brief stretch of time, he finally saw what he wanted: the symbol of a shirt on a sign. He didn’t bother reading the name of the establishment beyond the word “clothing” before making his way over there as quickly as possible without outright sprinting, as he still didn’t want to draw too much attention.

Walking through the doors without immediately being told to leave was certainly a jarring experience. He had gotten used to such treatment after the first few weeks of being on his own, once he started to look as desperate as he was. Shopkeepers started to assume that he was coming in to steal, which was actually fair, or they were just uncomfortable with having someone so ragged hanging around. Maybe they thought he would scare away the other customers or something, he didn’t know, nor did he particularly care. Their actions mattered to Tommy more than the reasoning behind them.

Even though money was obviously an issue, Tommy thought that he was well overdue for a new outfit. Everything that he wore now was so old and worn that he honestly felt like he was just wearing soiled rags most of the time, which wasn’t even much of a stretch. His pants were torn at the knees and had more holes scattered throughout, his shirt’s sleeves were falling off and the white had long since turned brown, and his shoes were barely holding themselves together anymore. Yeah, he definitely deserved better than this.

He picked out a new pair of pants fairly easily: an inexpensive but durable, well-made pair of jeans that he hoped would last a while. The shoes were much the same. The real issue came when he considered buying a cloak or hoodie of some sort, really just anything with a hood. It would be more expensive than a shirt, but it would also eliminate the need for a hat. A simple shirt and hat would hardly cost him anything, though, and they would serve him well as long as he was careful to make them last. 

Ultimately, after scrunching his nose at a number of ugly bucket hats, he settled on a simple red hoodie. It wasn’t quite his style, but it also wasn’t stupid expensive, and he couldn’t afford to be picky.

Tommy awkwardly smiled back at the friendly shopkeeper as he showed him which items he wanted to buy. The final price was fifteen emeralds, which wasn’t great, but it could’ve been worse, he supposed. He handed over the precious gems without complaint, thanked the shopkeeper as he left, ran into a secluded alleyway, then around a corner as quickly as he could. He changed in much the same manner, praying that no one would walk around the corner as he did so, which thankfully didn’t happen.

Unfortunately, Tommy had spent most of his money in that store. He definitely didn’t regret it, but the fact remained: he would have to get some more money pretty soon, and there weren't many options when it came to  _ how _ he would get his hands on it. Stealing was pretty much his most reliable bet, so whenever he spent the last of his emeralds, that was probably what he would turn to. Exciting. Fortunately, he still had enough left to buy a few days’ worth of food, so he wasn’t in desperate need just yet.

When he walked in the streets with his hood pulled up, Tommy was much more confident. He didn’t feel like everyone who glanced his way would report him anymore, so he didn’t hunker down and try to hide. And the best part was that even fewer people actually looked his way. Apparently, a guy in a red hoodie stood out less than a dirty, nervous-looking boy. Who would’ve guessed.

Tommy didn’t do anything else particularly exciting that day: he walked, dodged around corners whenever he saw anyone that made him nervous for any reason, and had a bit of a close shave with a guard, but thankfully, no one had managed to identify him yet. As he inched closer to the city at the center of the mass of buildings known as the capital, things started to look tidier, more organized. Dirt streets and paths were replaced with stone, randomly scattered buildings and houses were replaced with orderly lines designed for efficiency. 

It was a bit of a shock, seeing something more like what he was familiar with from his childhood: a neighborhood of people who knew each other well, people who weren’t living in the highest class, but who still managed to be content with what they had. It filled him with bittersweet nostalgia. He wished that he could go back to living like this, but he knew those days were gone. He envied the people around him, but he didn’t begrudge them for having what he couldn’t. Instead, he walked along, wondering just how long it would really take for him to walk through this entire city. At least it would be less than if he had walked around the whole thing.

Before he knew it, the sun had gone down, and he anticipated Tubbo’s arrival, which could be at any moment. There were less people bustling about the streets, but there were still enough around that Tommy wouldn’t dare take his hood off, not that he would even if the streets were deserted. He wasn’t stupid, he knew that would be a terrible idea while he was anywhere within the city borders.

Just as he walked past an odd, glowing sign that he assumed must’ve made use of glowstone dust, Tubbo appeared. Finally.

Tommy didn’t wait for Tubbo to finish anxiously scanning their surroundings before he whispered, “There you are! Look, I already made it this far! Impressive, right? I’ll be through with this city in no time!”

Tubbo nodded. “Yeah, it does look like you made it pretty far, actually. You’ve been careful, though, right?”

Tommy scoffed. “Of course I have! Look at me, I spent most of my money on this disguise, and now almost no one even looks my way!”

Tubbo gave Tommy a once-over, but didn’t comment on his new outfit. Instead, he glared suspiciously at every person they walked past, almost more nervous than Tommy was before he got the hoodie. No one else could see Tubbo, thankfully, so he wasn’t drawing attention by glaring at everyone.

They didn’t talk too much, since they were both well aware that anyone who saw Tommy talking to thin air would think he was insane. Instead, they just walked with each other as company. Tommy’s gait was confident and unconcerned, whereas Tubbo’s was careful and suspicious, paying close attention to every single person they walked by. Tommy definitely thought that Tubbo seemed way too worried about the whole situation, but he didn’t think that mentioning it to him would help at all. Instead, he tried to emphasize how confident he was, hoping that maybe it would rub off on his friend.

Eventually, Tommy got fed up with the tension that stubbornly hung in the air with Tubbo’s refusal to relax. He turned into a less populated alley, which Tubbo followed him into without question. Now that there wasn’t anyone around to give him weird looks for talking to an empty space, Tommy could actually talk to him.

“Tubbo! Why are you freaking out so much, nothing’s gonna happen! You need to calm down, seriously. No one is even looking at me funny.”

Tubbo gaped incredulously. “Wh- why am I freaking out?! Don’t you remember the argument that we had about this in the first place? I don’t want to be here, and I especially don’t want  _ you  _ to be here! You’re in constant danger with every second that you spend in the streets!” 

Tommy groaned. “But I  _ told  _ you it would be fine! Look, no one has even come close to recognizing me, and we’re not that far from the central city anymore. As long as I’m a bit more careful there, I don’t see how it’ll be any different from this, which is perfectly fine! I’m not stupid enough to let anyone get a good look at me, I  _ have  _ been on the run for a few months now, remember?”

Tubbo blinked, eyebrows drawing together in confusion and worry. “No, I didn’t know that, because you still haven’t told me anything, and as far as I know, you’ve just been hiding in the forest for a few days. But the fact remains that anyone who walks past you could report you at a moment’s notice, and then…” 

Tubbo looked down, dark hair shading over his eyes dramatically in the dim torchlight. “...I wouldn’t be able to do anything. I could barely unlock a door, there’s no way I could do anything if someone attacked you or took you away. I’d just… I’d just have to watch whatever happened to you, and I wouldn’t be able to do  _ anything,  _ and I just don’t want that to happen, okay?” He finished, refusing to look up at Tommy’s stricken face.

Tommy… didn’t know how to respond to that. He thought Tubbo was just doubting him and being unreasonably paranoid, but he was actually just worried.  _ Really  _ worried. And, well, he wasn’t wrong, he probably couldn’t do anything if something bad happened. Tommy would definitely prefer watching something happen to someone else over having it happen to himself, though, so he couldn’t entirely understand Tubbo’s concern. He was selfish and he knew it, so he couldn’t imagine being so selfless that he would just about cry at the mere thought of something bad happening to someone else, especially someone that he just met. 

Maybe Tubbo was just too nice.

Well, whatever it was, Tommy felt bad for making his friend worry so much. That was never his intent, he just wanted to cross the distance between them as quickly as possible! He knew that Tubbo disagreed with the idea of cutting through, but he didn’t think that it bothered him quite this much.

Tommy blew out a breath of air and mirrored Tubbo, looking down at the dirt. He carelessly kicked away a small pebble as he contemplated his next words. “Okay… Okay, I get it, Tubbo. I’m sorry. Maybe we should just turn and leave the city, if it really stresses you out so much. I’m fine with taking the long way around if it’ll make you feel better,” he caved.

Tubbo looked up at Tommy then, big, hopeful eyes peeking through his hair. “Really?”

_ Fuck. _ Holy shit, how was Tommy supposed to say no to that? Was that even humanly possible? How did Tubbo  _ do  _ that?!

Unsurprisingly, Tommy nodded. “Yeah, we can just… turn and head north or something, walk until we’re out of the city entirely, then circle around, just like you wanted in the first place. You’re right, anyways, that would be way safer. And slower… but it’s fine! I can walk, it’s not like I haven’t been doing that for this long, anyways.”

Tubbo sighed. “I know you don’t really want to do that Tommy, but it really would make me feel much better. Seriously, you know that this plan is more likely to fail than go well, right? Not much can go wrong in the forest, especially if you stay where it’s lit up. It makes so much more sense than this.”

Tommy nodded, though internally he would much rather continue on with what he was doing now. Even though this seemed like a much better option to him, having Tubbo being all tense and scared the whole time would probably rub off and start making him paranoid too, and Tommy would rather avoid that. Walking around and taking at least a few extra weeks sounded better than walking through that kind of atmosphere every night.

God, Tommy hated compromise. He was smart, his ideas were  _ always  _ good, so why should he have to settle for someone else’s? Unfortunately, there were too many reasons for him to justifiably ignore in this case.

“Thank you, Tommy. Really, I was getting super worried. I’m really glad that you aren’t going to the center of the city, and hey! Going through the forest won’t be all bad, since I’ll still be with you every night! It’s not gonna be as bad as you think, you’ll see,” Tubbo assured.

“Heh, sure,” Tommy agreed halfheartedly. “Hey, I think I should probably sleep before we get moving again. I can’t afford another hotel, so I’m just gonna find a decent place out here. Could you wake me up if anything happens while you’re here?”

Tubbo nodded enthusiastically. “Of course! Why wouldn’t I? It sucks that you have to sleep on the ground, though. Do you have a pillow?”

Tommy almost laughed. “Why would I have a pillow? Do you really think that I’d carry a pillow around with me everywhere? I’m used to it, I don’t need one,” he explained. Tubbo only frowned, which Tommy noticed that he did a lot when they talked about what his life was like. “It’s fine! Really, I sleep on the ground all the time. Sure, it’s not the best, but I’m not miserable. Stop looking at me like that.”

Tubbo didn’t really seem satisfied, but he didn’t say anything else about pillows, thankfully. Really, Tommy had no need for such luxuries. He would’ve been so fucked if he’d been kicked to the streets with the mindset that he still needed something like a  _ pillow. _ That was the last thing that Tubbo should be worried about.

Tommy considered just trying to sleep in this alley, but he decided that it wasn’t quite isolated enough for him to feel secure. He knew that he couldn’t really be too picky about where he slept, but he wanted to at least look around for a slightly more isolated space. He’d come back and settle for this alley if he couldn’t find anywhere better.

With that basic plan in mind, he gestured for Tubbo to follow him back out in the open. He saw his friend actively attempt to not seem nervous, but he clearly wasn’t very well-versed in hiding his emotions. Tommy appreciated Tubbo’s efforts, but it still annoyed him that the other boy was so jumpy. He didn’t let it show, though, instead opting to turn and get moving.

Tommy turned right out of the alley and scanned over any similar looking crevices where he could take refuge. He didn’t focus on much else, letting his eyes skip over people, signs, and other such things in favor of simply focusing on what he was searching for.

He didn’t leave this state until he noticed the green of Tubbo’s shirt wandering away from him, towards a random wall. What the fuck was he doing? Wasn’t he the one who wanted to spend the least amount of time out in the open as possible?

Tommy turned to follow, awkwardly maneuvering around someone who was walking between him and his destination. His irritation grew as he saw Tubbo come to a complete stop facing the wall, and he moved to stomp towards him, but froze as his blood went cold at the sight of just what had caught his friend’s eye.

It was a poster. Specifically, it was Tommy’s wanted poster.

There was a moment, right after Tommy’s eyes settled on it, where his thoughts stilled, and all he could think was  _ huh, it actually does look like me. _ That passed, however, and his face fell when he finally processed the words printed, big and bold, for all to see. For  _ Tubbo _ to see.

“Tommy… I-is this true?” Tubbo whispered, staring blankly at the cursed sheet of paper.

_ Wanted: Thomas Simons, Child Murderer. _

_ Last seen west of the capital. Currently has two known victims, his own parents. Extremely volatile and likely to lash out if given the chance. Report on sight. _

_ Reward: 1,500 Emeralds. _

Tommy cringed and looked away, ignoring how his eyes stung. So that was how they were playing it, then. No wonder Derek had reacted so violently, if his wife had told him  _ that. _

Tubbo spoke again before Tommy could find any words. “This can’t… this can’t be true, right? You didn’t… you d-didn’t… I haven’t been helping someone who would–”

“No!” Tommy interrupted, not wanting Tubbo to finish the thought. “No, I- I didn’t do anything like that, please let me explain!”

Tubbo took a deep, shuddering breath and nodded, still clearly shaken. Oh god, Tommy really hoped that the actual story would fix this.

But, well, the posters weren’t really that far off, were they?

Tommy didn’t want to talk about this. He didn’t even want to  _ think  _ about it. But he didn’t really have much of a choice in the matter, not if he wanted to keep his only remaining friend.

Tommy took a moment to steel himself, and then, before he could change his mind, he spoke.

\----------

_ Tommy’s parents knew him well. Of course they did, they were the ones who raised him. They  _ had _ to know him well. _

_ Seeing as they understood Tommy so completely, they knew that he had a tendency to be a bit… reckless, so to speak. He tended to act before considering the consequences, and in some (most) situations, this caused him more harm than good. _

_ With this understanding, they came to a mutual agreement: make sure Tommy stays inside whenever the nobles or anyone else of high class come through their neighborhood. It was incredibly likely that Tommy would do something to offend them if given the chance, and given that they could punish him in any way that they pleased, it would be best to just avoid the situation entirely. _

_ Tommy, unfortunately, did not take well to this idea. In fact, their lack of trust in him only inspired him to prove them wrong. They didn’t need to doubt him, he could handle himself just fine! _

_ So, in spite of their firm orders to stay inside that day, Tommy decided to sneak out his window and actively seek out the nobles passing through town, just so he could very pointedly  _ not _ offend them. If he could do that, then surely his parents would never doubt his ability to look after himself again! _

_ He ran around town for a while, winding through familiar streets shining with the rain that had passed over just last night. He was too absorbed in his task to bother speaking with any of the people who greeted him as he passed by, instead offering them only a halfhearted wave before continuing on. Still, in spite of his best efforts, the nobles evaded him, which should’ve been impossible: their neighborhood wasn’t exactly large, and he had searched everywhere except for his own street, which he avoided in fear of being spotted by his parents. _

_ With a sigh, Tommy reluctantly began his walk back home, resigned. He knew that he wasn’t really losing much by not accomplishing this goal, but it was still upsetting that he had to give up on it just because he couldn’t find the people he was looking for. _

_ He crept up to the side of his house, where he planned to sneak back inside through his window, but then he noticed something farther down the street: a large crowd, circled around something and blocking his view of whatever was in the center. _

_ With his curiosity piqued, Tommy decided that going back home could wait a few more moments, and went to check out whatever was making such a scene. As he got closer, he heard an authoritative voice speaking over the murmurs of the gathered people. _

_ “...for a few weeks, now, so it’s really quite a happy coincidence that we happened to meet today! Truly, I wasn’t expecting this, but now that the opportunity has presented itself, we may as well resolve this issue now, yes?” _

_ Tommy tried to push through the crowd, ignoring the alarmed expressions that crossed the faces of anyone who looked his way. Why were they doing that? _

_ “Now, I’m sure you saw this coming, but you only really have three options here. I recommend that you just pay off your debt here and now to get off scot-free. Otherwise, you’ll have to work it off in the mines, or… well, if you really want to roll the dice, you can seek an audience with the king, but, heh, good luck getting anything good to come of that. You know how he is.” _

_ Tommy finally pushed his way through the wall of bodies, only for the world around him to come to a stop, everything else losing any sense of importance as he zeroed in on the two people being held down by armored guards, forced to kneel before a proud, self-centered man who practically reeked of wealth. The people who, based on what Tommy had heard so far, had come up a bit short on their required taxes, and now had to choose some way to make up for it. _

_ The two defeated people, slumped on the ground with their heads lowered, were none other than his own parents. _

_ “Well? What’ll it be? I don’t have all day, surely you understand that my time is quite a valuable thing,” the noble said, picking disinterestedly at his nails. As if the people who he was about to bring so much pain to were entirely unimportant to him. As if Tommy’s  _ parents  _ were entirely unimportant, nothing more than ants beneath this man’s boots. _

_ “We– we haven’t made enough money to pay yet, or we would’ve! Please, give us j-just a bit more time, and we’ll pay it off soon! We have a son to take care of, please, surely you must understand…” his father pleaded, raising his head. _

_ The noble only hummed. “Hm, is that so? Well, surely the kind folks around here will take care of him in your absence, then. Come along, a few of my guards here will take you off to the mines,” he dismissed, not even acknowledging the desperate plea. _

_ It made Tommy’s blood boil. _

_ He didn’t think, didn’t do much of anything other than act, bending down and grabbing a marble-sized stone, winding back, and aiming right between the bitch’s eyes. It didn’t actually hit there, of course, and instead bounced off one side of his forehead with a dull  _ thunk.

_ Regardless of where it struck, it still had the desired effect: the man cried out in distress, likely more shocked than hurt, but Tommy didn’t care about the specifics. He just wanted to get this guy’s attention, force him to actually pay some mind to someone who was “beneath him.” Tommy grinned as the man set his sights on him, still leaning forward after hurling the stone.  _

_ “Yeah that’s right, bitch!” He shouted, shamelessly straightening his posture and standing to his full height once more. “How’d that feel, huh? Let them go, they didn’t even do anything wrong!” _

_ The man recovered from his shock quickly, only to snarl and straighten up, affronted. “Who do you think you are, boy? Do you have any inkling of understanding for what you’ve just done?” _

_ Tommy was ready to offer another witty response, still fueled by anger and adrenaline, but he paused when he saw his mother turn towards him, horror written plainly across her features. “T-Tommy? What are you–” _

_ The noble slapped her across her face, fast and sharp, sending her crumpling to the ground, only barely catching herself on her hands. Tommy immediately growled and moved to run forward to hit him back, but someone in the crowd held him back, multiple other hands joining in when he violently struggled to break loose, kicking and biting wildly. Tommy’s father broke free of the guards’ grip and moved to hold his wife, whispering words that Tommy couldn’t hear. _

_ “This is your son?” The monster asked, disgusted. “Not only have you violated your taxes, but you’ve raised this… this disrespectful  _ brat?! _ ” He spat, eyes practically glowing with rage as he stared down at the two defenseless people below him.  _

_ Tommy’s mother spoke up from her position in the dirt, one hand clutching the stricken side of her face. “Please! Please, don’t hurt him, he doesn’t understand, he’s just a boy! It’s not his fault!” She begged. _

_ Tommy could practically see steam shoot out of the man’s ears as he grumbled, but he surprised just about everyone when he only brushed himself off, stepping away from his victim and doing his best to speak in a calm, level headed manner. It didn’t really work. _

_ “No, no, you needn’t worry. He’s just a boy, after all, you’re right. Surely he just acted without thinking. Isn’t that right… Tommy? You’re sorry, aren’t you?” The noble asked, stepping towards where Tommy was still being restrained by his neighbors, though he wasn’t struggling anymore. The man was obviously still masking his rage, but only to maintain his image. No, Tommy didn’t feel sorry for giving this bitch a piece of what he deserved. _

_ His feelings were clearly conveyed when he wordlessly spat towards the scumbag’s boots, only just failing to land on them. Damn. _

_ The man promptly bared his teeth, indistinguishable, furious noises crawling up and out of his throat as he raised his hand to strike Tommy, who was still being held immobile. However, at the sight of the impending strike, many of the hands holding him in place loosened and fell away as people flinched from the violence that would be dished upon someone so young. Tommy prepared to double back after them, out of the man’s reach, but it proved unnecessary when the motion came to an abrupt stop, the man taking yet another deep breath as he composed himself. _

_ “Fine. Fine, I see how it is, then,” he admitted, brushing even more nonexistent dust off of his expensive robes. “No one wants to harm a child, that’s just cruel, right? No, it’s not necessary to harm an innocent boy.” _

_ “However…” The man turned towards Tommy, who shrunk back, suddenly afraid of what he was seeing on his face. Why did he look so smug? “A child who has committed a heinous crime, not just against his superiors, but his own people? Surely no one would be opposed to bringing someone like that to justice, no?” He hissed. _

_ Tommy stumbled back, the crowd parting around him as the noble got to work painting a terrifying target on his back. _

_ “None of you shall speak of what has happened here today, or you’ll meet the same fate that these shameful excuses for parents will, soon. If I hear of any of you aiding this pathetic boy after today, the result will be much the same. Just do what you always do and carry on like nothing happened,” he demanded. Then, he locked eyes with Tommy, pinning him beneath a predatory gaze. _

_ “Now, I suggest you run, criminal scum. Truly, it hurts to have to bring someone so young to justice, but what choice do I have, under these circumstances?” He explained, face painted with faux remorse. _

_ Tommy scrambled to his feet as his mother began to wail, his father offering consoling words to deaf ears. His stomach dropped like a stone as the words sunk in, weighing on his shoulders. In spite of the perceived weight, it only filled him with an incessant need to run away, as far and as fast as possible, just like this piece of shit wanted. _

_ None of his neighbors would meet his eyes. He desperately hoped for something, some kind of help or support or  _ anything,  _ but those who didn’t laugh and encourage him to run and hide just looked away, as if that somehow made them the good guys. He… he didn’t have a choice, did he? He didn’t have anyone to cover his back, not anymore. _

_ The noble, who Tommy now clearly understood was truly anything but, grinned sharply, victorious. He gestured to the guards around him, each standing at the ready, prepared to pursue him at a moment’s notice. “We’ll even give you a head start! Go on, scurry away, little rat. Run before the cat loses his patience with you.” _

_ As much as it hurt his pride, Tommy knew that he didn’t have any choice. This piece of shit really gave him no other choice, as much as he hated to admit it. He heard some of the people who were never very fond of him in the first place start jeering as he turned on his heel and ran, steps fueled by terror as he imagined the guards running after him. _

_ The last thing that he heard before he darted around a corner and out of sight were the smug, self-assured words of the asshole who caused this whole mess.  _

_ “Your parents should’ve taught you to watch that mouth of yours, boy.” _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oof
> 
> (by the way, i'm very much an american, so if you don't think tommy and tubbo really seem british in this, that's probably why. i tried a little bit, but it doesn't come natural to me so i have a hard time making it seem natural in my writing. sorry about that.)
> 
> thank you for reading <3


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> whoa, what happened? oh yeah.
> 
> sorry this one took so long, and that it's not even that long. to be perfectly honest, this took ages because i had a seriously hard time with like, the first 10 paragraphs or something, and that's literally what took almost this entire time. i was just never happy with it, but eventually i just decided to settle and carry on. so don't worry if you don't like the beginning of this chapter, neither do i!
> 
> anyways, i literally wrote everything after those first few evil paragraphs within the last few hours. this has seen pretty much the bare minimum in terms of editing, so... woo.
> 
> i won't drone on any longer. sorry this took so long, and thank you for reading!

Tubbo’s face shifted between many different expressions as Tommy struggled through his story. At the beginning, he seemed scared and unsure, still entertaining the idea that maybe he had been helping a murderer all this time. But as Tommy went on, he slowly started to look confused, then concerned, then shocked and horrified, until he finally settled on just looking sad. Tommy was shocked that he could be so expressive, but that was only an afterthought with all of the other things running through his mind.

He had actually managed to say it. He finally managed to admit what he’d done. Sure, he knew that he definitely wasn’t half as crazy as the wanted posters made him seem, but did that really matter? What they said was at least partially true. Tommy still blamed himself, still felt like he  _ had  _ murdered his own parents, albeit indirectly, by angering the noble and the guards so much and then running away, leaving his family at the mercy of those that Tommy had upset in the first place. He doubted that they were well off at all, even if they were still alive.

He said as much, since he was already on a roll with admitting things, and that seemed to finally be the breaking point for Tubbo. What remained of his composure seemed to fall away as he let his head hang low, his eyes welling up with tears, instantly sending Tommy into a panic.

“Whoa, wait no it’s fine! I’m fine, just look at me!”

Tubbo responded by weakly shaking his head as he shifted to stare apologetically up at Tommy through misty eyes. “No, no you’re not, I-I’m sorry, Tommy, I’m sorry!”

Tommy blinked, confused. He chose to ignore how his eyes were starting to tear up like his friend’s. “What do you have to be sorry for?”

Tubbo rubbed his eyes. “You didn’t deserve any of that. A-and I’m sorry that I almost believed what the poster said.”

Tommy… wasn’t sure how to respond. When he thought about telling Tubbo about that day, about the rising dread and pounding footsteps trailing away from the people that he cared about, he thought that he would be met with disdain. Instead, Tubbo seemed devastated. Did he really care that much?

Tommy just shook his head, taking advantage of Tubbo’s lowered gaze to wipe the tears out of his own eyes before the other boy looked up. “You’re… It’s, it’s fine, Tubbo, you’re fine. Do you really believe me?”

Tubbo nodded without hesitation, lifting his head back up and keeping it that way while wiping one of his eyes one last time. “Of course! M-maybe the posters don’t match up with what you said, but I know all about how bad the nobles are, trust me, and… well, I-I could see it on your face, Tommy. You weren’t lying.”

Tommy just pressed his lips together. Maybe it worked in his favor this time, but he didn’t like letting his emotions show so clearly on his face. Still, he was touched that Tubbo decided to trust him based on just his story and his facial expressions. Tommy hadn’t met many people who were willing to do that.

Tommy looked away from Tubbo’s disturbingly sincere stare. He didn’t like when things got sappy, so he tried to break up the heavy atmosphere with a scoff. He didn’t put much heart into it, and Tubbo only cracked a small, wry grin in response, unconvinced. Whatever. 

“Well, now that we’ve come to an understanding, let’s just go back to what we were doing before. Now I’m even more tired from all of the time that you just wasted,” Tommy said, eager to get away from this subject. Tubbo agreed easily, so they went back to searching for a decent place for Tommy to sleep.

Before long, though, Tommy decided that he was too tired for this shit and decided to just go back to where he and Tubbo agreed that they would leave the city. That was the most secure looking place he had seen, anyways.

He sighed in exhaustion and told Tubbo where they were going, then turned around. He froze as he thought he saw a flicker of movement dash out of sight, but he let it slide after a few more seconds of nothing. He was reassured when he walked past the corner that the thing would’ve darted behind, only to see nothing. Yeah, he was fine. He must’ve just imagined that since he was so tired.

Once they made it to the alley, Tommy immediately pulled some of his old, filthy clothes out of his bag and laid them out so he wouldn’t have to lay on cold concrete, then curled in a ball and promptly fell asleep. No, he wasn’t comfortable, but he hadn’t been for a very long time so he didn’t really care.

Normally, when Tommy slept in a place like this, he’s awakened by one of three things: the sun shining in his eyes, the sounds of people starting to go about their day on a nearby street, or an animal making a commotion as it clampers through a nearby trash can. Unfortunately, this time, it was none of those things.

“Tommy! Tommy, get up, quick! There are people coming!” Tubbo shouted, immediately snapping Tommy into the waking world with a start.

“What?!” Tommy scrambled to his feet, looking around anxiously but seeing nothing. It was still dark. He turned to Tubbo confusedly, but still in a panic because he knew that his friend wouldn’t lie to him about this kind of thing.

“I-I’ve been on the lookout, since you being in the city makes me paranoid and I have nothing better to do while you’re asleep, and I saw them! There was someone leading a bunch of guards over here and whispering about you! They’re trying to be quiet, but they’ll still be here any minute!” Tubbo frantically explained.

Tommy didn’t need to hear anything else. He crammed his old clothes back into his bag as quickly as possible, then braved himself to run out of the alley, since it was a dead end. “Which way were they coming from?” He demanded, still frantic.

Tubbo pointed. “They were that way, to the right. They’re trying to sneak around and be quiet because they know you’re asleep, so be careful!”

Tommy nodded, then bolted. He got to the opening of the alley, then moved to turn left, only to be met with a group of three men clad in full armor, all tense and drawing their swords as soon as they saw him. Fuck, did Tubbo lie, or did he just forget which way they were coming from? He turned right, only to see… even more guards.

_ Oh god, he’s so fucked. _

Tommy thought of running straight ahead, but he saw one guard pull out a crossbow, and decided that he didn’t feel like getting shot today. He turned around and ran back into the alley, knowing that he would have to figure out how to do that cool wall climbing thing on the spot if he didn’t want to die.

“Tubbo!  _ How did you not know that there were two groups?!” _

Tubbo looked on the verge of tears, he was so terrified. Tommy would’ve felt bad for yelling at him, but he was a bit busy scrambling to stay alive at the moment.

“I-I’m sorry! I didn’t see them! I saw one group and came running back to tell you, I didn’t think to check for more!”

Tommy didn’t have time to consider that any longer, as he was approaching the wall at the end of the alley, and he had to get up fast if he didn’t want to get shot on the way. “Whatever, it’s fine, you’re still the only reason I knew they were coming at all. Could you maybe help me get up this wall?” He asked, scrabbling to get a decent grip on one of the crevices of the brick.

Tubbo swallowed nervously. “I can… I can try, of course I will! I’ve been practicing moving things while you’re asleep, b-but it’s still really hard. I’m sorry if you fall because of me…”

Well, that didn’t sound super reliable, but it was better than nothing. Tommy nodded and started trying to haul himself up, hearing the clamorous footsteps of the armored guards coming closer. He slipped a few times, having zero experience in this technique, but whenever he couldn’t catch himself, Tubbo would reach up and Tommy would receive just the tiniest ghost of support for a moment, but it was enough for him to get his act together. He had figured out a decent strategy by the time he was out of Tubbo’s reach, so he thankfully didn’t need any more support at that point. By some kind of miracle, he soon found himself at the top, panting from exertion.

He paused for a moment to catch his breath, but then gasped for an entirely different reason as someone hauled him to his feet. He relaxed when he saw that it was Tubbo, but then he became very confused as he processed that  _ Tubbo was on the roof with him _ .

“What the– how the fuck did you get here?!” Tommy asked, only to sputter as Tubbo got behind him and started urging him forward insistently, which felt very strange. His hands were cold.

“I climbed,” was the only explanation the other boy was willing to offer. “You’re still being chased down, remember? Yeah, they’ll have a hard time getting up, but that doesn’t mean you can just stop! Go!”

Tommy didn’t know how to respond to that, so he just did as he was told and started running. Running across rooftops was a first for him, but it actually didn’t last all that long since he definitely wasn’t confident enough to try to jump onto a wall and climb onto a higher building. No, instead he only jumped to buildings of equal or lesser height, until he eventually had to just jump back in the ground. He knew enough about gravity and shit to bend his legs when he landed, so he didn’t break his ankles or anything, but the impact did still send a spike of pain through his bad leg. Oh right, that was a thing. All the better.

Unfortunately, leaving their sight didn’t seem to be quite enough to make the guards give up, as he heard a set of footsteps stomping nearby. It was only one, so he assumed that they had split up to look for him. While a stronger person might have used the opportunity to pick them off one by one, Tommy was  _ not  _ that person, and he instead chose to get the  _ fuck _ away from anything that resembled a person. Except for Tubbo, who was still by his side and searching just as frantically as he was.

Tommy’s leg  _ ached, _ but he couldn’t afford to stop, not when there were people out to kill him. Tubbo stayed a few steps ahead of him, looking around corners before Tommy walked past or around them. Tommy, however, lacked the patience to actually wait for Tubbo to tell him when it was safe, which proved an issue when he rushed past his friend just as he shouted “Tommy, wait–” and a guard was within a few feet of him, sword at the ready.

Tommy  _ didn’t  _ scream as he turned and sprinted the other way with everything he had, the guard not hesitating to pursue him.

It was by pure luck that he managed to get a decent lead without Tubbo telling him which ways were safe as he darted this way and that, but his friend eventually gestured for him to run into a specific alley, and Tommy obeyed without hesitation. Tubbo had saved him too many times by now for him to do anything other than listen.

“You lost him,” Tubbo assured. “But we  _ really _ don’t need anyone else to see you, so let’s just be careful, okay? Go slow, I’ll tell you when you’re safe,” he assured.

“Okay…” Tommy panted, exhausted but still unable to rest. He hadn’t even really gotten any sleep, goddamn it! “Thank you… Seriously, thank you Tubbo, I would be dead if it weren’t for you,” Tommy admitted, though he doubted it was much of a surprise.

Tubbo just gave a small smile, sincere but still uneasy. “Of course. We’re friends, aren’t we? You said you were gonna stay with me, and I can’t just let you get captured or… or whatever else and never make it!”

Tommy smiled back, shaky and tired, but still just as genuine as Tubbo’s. “Right. Of course not, that would be outrageous.”

From there, they did just as Tubbo suggested, and carried on cautiously. Tubbo looked around every corner before Tommy did, and this time, Tommy actually waited for him to say it was clear. With this strategy, after only a few close calls, they eventually managed to make it far enough away that Tubbo deemed it safe. Just to be sure, he told Tommy to wait unless he saw or heard something, and then he went off to see if there were any guards nearby. It was during this waiting period that Tommy noticed the sun coming up, and he despaired over his lack of sleep that night. God, he was so tired. Maybe he could just… get a bit of rest, while he waited for Tubbo to come back…

_ No, fuck you,  _ the world said, and Tubbo came back right when Tommy closed his eyes. He groaned and opened them again, but he couldn’t stay upset for too long once he saw the relief etched across his friend’s face. 

They were safe. It was over,  _ they were safe. _

He sighed in relief, but forced himself to begrudgingly get back to his feet in spite of his exhaustion. Tubbo looked concerned, and he rushed over as Tommy scrambled to his feet, trying to urge him to sit back down but frowning when his hands only phased through. Tommy got the point, though, and he sat back down without any hint of hesitation.

“Tommy… I’ll keep an eye out, you can go to sleep. I know you must be really tired after all of that.”

Tommy nodded gratefully, shifted until he was horizontal without any care for comfort, and fell right asleep.

\----------

He awoke as he usually did this time, although he immediately noted that the sun was much higher than it normally was when he woke up. So he had actually managed to get a decent amount of sleep after that endeavor, then. Surprising, but he definitely wasn’t complaining. 

He was mostly just glad that no one had found him in the time that Tubbo had ben away.  _ That  _ would’ve definitely been an issue.

Well, he had a revised plan to follow, now: head north until he gets to the woods, then circle around until he reaches Tubbo’s house. Simple enough, and definitely much safer than cutting through the capital. Especially now that they knew he was nearby. Tommy finally agreed with Tubbo, citing straight through the center sounded like a very stupid idea, now.

He was afraid that news had gotten around after last night, and people might know that he had a red hoodie on, but he couldn’t just go around without it and he definitely couldn’t afford to buy something new. So, his only choice was to try his best to stay out of sight, which would thankfully only become easier the farther north he went. Unfortunately, he was currently pretty deep in the city, and as of now, there were people  _ everywhere.  _ All he could do was hope for the best.

The day passed uneventfully. Tommy experienced plenty of anxiety, but no one seemed to notice him and nothing of note really took place. He flitted through the shadows while also trying not to seem too conspicuous in doing so, which actually worked surprisingly well, and before he knew it, the repetitive motions followed him into the night, and Tubbo was there.

“Tommy! You’re okay, I was so worried that something would happen but I didn’t want to wake you up because you just seemed so tired and–”

“Whoa, slow down, big T. At this rate, someone else might actually manage to hear you,” Tommy interrupted, and Tubbo only flushed. “I’m fine, and I’ve been walking all day, so we’ll be out of this city in no time!”

Tubbo was obviously relieved. “Oh, thank goodness. I can’t believe you actually thought that going through the capital was a good idea! Really, I tried to tell you, but you didn’t listen!”

Tommy sighed. “Yeah, yeah, I know. At least I changed my mind before we got into the real mess, though. Everything should calm down now.”

Tubbo enthusiastically agreed, and they carried on talking about random things as they made their way north. Tommy learned that Tubbo had two brothers, Wilbur and Techno, and their dad, Phil. Apparently, Techno was some kind of combat god or something, if the way the Tubbo described him was accurate. He had stars in his eyes the entire time he was describing what it was like to watch his brother spar with either Phil or some of their other friends who visited sometimes. Tubbo didn’t really elaborate on them, nor did he talk too much about Wilbur, but Tommy wasn’t too worried about that and he definitely didn’t want to push him for answers. He wasn’t that curious, anyways.

What he  _ was  _ curious about was Techno. That was probably the main reason that Tubbo didn’t talk about much else, since Tommy became almost as starstruck as he was from the descriptions alone. Techno sounded like such a badass, and Tommy couldn’t help but wonder if maybe he’d be able to learn from him. He didn’t ask Tubbo if Techno would be willing to teach him, though, because just the thought of asking that was enough to embarrass him. No, he could just draw his own conclusions when he actually met the guy.

Through all of this, Tubbo also practiced touching things as they walked, mostly by kicking pebbles or picking them up every now and then. It was surprisingly interesting to watch, and Tommy noticed how Tubbo’s success rate increased the longer he went on. It seemed like he actually  _ was  _ getting way better at touching things. That was purely good news, for both of them.

Before long, it was late into the night, but Tommy had slept in so late that he wasn’t all that tired. Tubbo encouraged him to go to sleep anyways, and he told Tommy that it was completely pointless for him to become nocturnal when he mentioned his plan, to which Tommy just flipped him off and pointedly carried on without stopping to rest. Yes, his leg was a bit sore, but he was  _ fine  _ and he wasn’t even tired. He would sleep when he felt like it.

Tubbo was forced to accept this, much to his exasperation, and they carried on like this, with Tommy only falling asleep at the most random times, throwing his sleep schedule completely and entirely into a dumpster before setting it on fire. Reaching the forest seemed much faster than reaching the deeper parts of the city, strangely enough, probably because the journey only got easier the farther they went. Regardless, they reached the forest within only a few short days, and Tommy was absolutely elated. At this rate, maybe it wouldn’t take him absolute ages to reach his destination!

Tubbo also seemed happy when he arrived to find that Tommy was in the forest one night, though he was obviously not quite as excited as Tommy. He definitely seemed much calmer than when they were in the city, though.

After much whining from Tubbo, Tommy finally conceded and decided to sleep through the night, which came surprisingly easily once he climbed a tree and actively tried to sleep. Who would’ve thought?

Having learned from his past mistakes, Tommy grabbed one of the lanterns from the trees before he proceeded deeper into the forest this time, reassured that the glowstone-powered light source would at least provide some small amount of protection from the horrors of the night. 

After one more night of walking and talking peacefully with Tubbo, Tommy slept in another tree, lantern hanging below him to ward off at least most of the nastier mobs, and woke up to another day. 

Later, he would begrudgingly admit that the days of peace had encouraged him to lower his guard, and he had foolishly conceded. Now, though, Tommy had no idea what was coming.

He didn’t pay attention to the sounds around him, even when they turned to footsteps crunching the autumn leaves, because he was too busy listening as they crunched under his own feet, taking childish pleasure in the power that he held over them.

He only noticed when the person cleared their throat, a show of confidence that he couldn’t get away now even if he tried, and Tommy immediately whipped around to face them, fear fueling his moves.

He came face-to-face with a poorly drawn smiley face on a porcelain mask, hiding all the features of the person's face. A lime green hood covered the rest of their head, though Tommy could still spot a few stray tufts of dirty-blonde hair poking through. A strangely shimmering diamond axe was gripped firmly in their right hand, and they slung it over their shoulder once Tommy turned to face them. He could practically hear the victorious smile in their voice as they spoke their next words.

“There you are.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> mystery axe man that no one knows the identity of has appeared. who could that possibly be?
> 
> i am genuinely concerned about mistakes in this chapter, since i literally haven't reread it, but i also don't want to spend another month thinking about how to fix shit so i'm just going with it. please tell me about any mistakes you notice.
> 
> also, random, but i recently discovered that the song Wires by The Neighbourhood literally fits post-election wilbur like... perfectly. its a bit disturbing, actually, but i love it. i'd make an animatic out of it if i had talent.
> 
> anyways, thanks for reading. i'll actually respond to comments this time because i'm not wallowing in guilt and indecision about posting the next chapter anymore.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i actually like this chapter, it's a fun one. :)
> 
> if i had anything else that i wanted to say here, then i forgot. so... 
> 
> enjoy the chapter :D

Tommy’s first instinct was, of course, to turn and run. It had worked well enough for him thus far, after all.

Unfortunately, this guy didn’t seem to be quite as conveniently cocky as the rest, and didn’t let Tommy get any sort of head start. He immediately gave chase, borderline maniacal, wheezing laughter ringing through the towering trees, growing in volume the longer Tommy tried to escape. He would’ve laughed at the ridiculous sound of it in any other situation.

“C’monnn~! I just want to have a little chat with you!” He chirped, but his cheery tone only made Tommy’s pounding heart drop lower in his chest. 

“Something tells me that’s a lie!” Tommy shouted back, poorly masking the fear in his voice. He only received more laughter in response.

He was used to dealing with people who were stronger than him, used to taking advantage of their cockiness or, more recently, relying on Tubbo to help him get away. This time, he had neither of those things.

Well, this green bastard definitely did seem cocky, but not to the point that he was willing to let Tommy out of his sight. It was also the middle of the day, so Tubbo wouldn’t be showing up any time soon, though it wasn’t as if he would’ve really been able to do much anyways. It was hit or miss as to whether or not he would even be able to touch this guy, let alone shove him or whatever else might help out. Tommy was on his own.

Well, whatever. Fine, he’d been on his own for long enough that he was sure he could figure something out.

For one thing, he doubted that he could outlast this guy if they kept running. Something told him that his pursuer had much more experience with the chase, and thus more stamina, than he did, so it would be useless to try to outlast him. He had to find another way, and fast.

Some quieter, unfamiliar part of him suddenly rose up to scream  _ DODGE! _ and Tommy immediately acted, stumbling to the left just before something whistled through the air past his ear, right where his head had just been. He didn’t have time to think about what the fuck had just happened in his head, so he instead turned to glance at his pursuer for just a moment, and just as he suspected, he was pointing an unloaded crossbow straight where the object had flown. It was an arrow then, obviously. 

Oddly enough, the bow was shimmering in the same strange way as the axe, and Tommy had half a mind to wonder why that might be before he turned back around and noticed that the arrow had shot at least halfway through the trunk of a tree, with blackened scorch marks surrounding the otherwise smooth puncture.

Okay, so the shimmering basically meant that he was extra fucked. Joy. He wondered what kind of special treat the axe might have in store. Maybe it wouldn’t even have to actually touch him to cleave him in half?

He didn’t really want to find out, but the beginnings of a plan formulating in his mind involved putting himself at a much greater risk of doing so. He couldn’t keep running forever, especially since he doubted that he would be able to miraculously avoid every arrow like he had with the last one. As terrifying as the idea was, his best bet was probably to stop running and get closer.

He didn’t have any time to think everything through too thoroughly, all he could do was act on whatever half-decent ideas came to mind first, and that was all he had. So, he skidded to a sudden stop, and was surprised to hear his pursuer do the same, rather than closing in and trying to kill him right then and there.

Well, he wasn’t complaining. That only worked in his favor, anyways. He didn’t have to fight for his life just yet. 

“Hey! I don’t know who you are or why you’re chasing me, but how about we just let this slide and go our separate ways? No one has to get hurt,” Tommy suggested.

The man before him seemed completely at ease, loose and relaxed in every part of his body except for his white-knuckled grip on that fucking axe, held with the head towards the ground. Tommy doubted that was the best way to hold an axe in combat, but something told him that this guy knew what he was doing. He wasn’t someone to be messed with, but Tommy hoped that he could maybe just intimidate him enough to leave him alone for now. Unlikely, but not impossible. His wanted posters didn’t exactly make him sound like a sweet, innocent boy.

The man didn’t move except to tilt his head to the side. “You don’t know who I am? Interesting,” he said, bringing his hand to the chin of his mask and mumbling something too quiet for Tommy to hear, then continuing as if nothing had happened. “But I’m not going to let you go anywhere, kid. People like you don’t deserve to be left running free. I’m Dream, and this will be the last face you see,” he declared, then promptly started walking towards him. 

Tommy’s blood ran cold. Somehow, that stupid mask suddenly seemed deeply terrifying, and Dream seemed inescapable even though he was only calmly walking forward, axe almost dragging through the leaves blanketing the forest floor. This situation felt like something far beyond his capabilities, but he couldn’t just give up. Tommy shifted his feet into what he thought might have been a decent stance, where he could easily run but also put more force behind his swings, and pulled the stolen knife out of his bag. He ignored how the gleaming metal of the blade trembled in his grip.

He also ignored Dream’s poor attempt to suppress a snort at the sight of the weapon, and stood his ground. He couldn’t run, and he had never seriously fought anyone, but he could damn well try. He wasn’t going to go down without a fight.

Dream was still several meters in front of him, but Tommy suddenly felt a powerful chill shoot up his spine as every one of his hairs stood on end, that same feeling from before screaming  _ DUCK!  _ so insistently that Tommy didn’t even think before he was on the ground. A gleaming blue axe swung over his head from behind, wedging itself unnaturally deep into the forest floor from the force of the swing combined with the enchantment, but Dream was still in front of him, axe in hand. What-?

The man before him seemed to simply fade from view like a mirage, and it was only then that Tommy noticed that he hadn’t been hearing any footsteps during this part of their confrontation. The one that was in front of him wasn’t real, but the axe lodged into the soil next to him certainly was, and so was the green-sleeved arm struggling to pull it out, clearly not having expected Tommy to evade the blow. Tommy didn’t think twice before flipping the knife in his grip and stabbing it backwards. There was resistance, and a pained grunt sounded from above him just as the axe was finally pried free from the earth, leaving a gaping scar in its wake.

Tommy pulled the knife back, noting the blood dripping off the blade, and scrambled to crawl forward and get to his feet, but he was too slow. Dream raised a boot and kicked him  _ hard, _ right in the middle of his back. Tommy was sent sprawling forward on his stomach, gasping for air as the wind was knocked out of him.

“I guess this is what I get for underestimating a murderer,” Dream muttered, words drenched with fury. He drove another violent kick into Tommy’s exposed side, bringing about another pitiful, pained noise as the boy struggled not to curl up, still entertaining the hope that he’d be able to get back on his feet and run.

He scrabbled for some kind of purchase on the ground, breath puffing from the growing cold that he hadn’t noticed when he was running, but his hands always slipped on the  _ stupid _ leaves.

Dream, meanwhile, was in no hurry. He leisurely walked around Tommy’s struggling form until he stood just in front of him. He brought his foot down on the hand that was still desperately clutching the bloodied blade with an audible  _ crack _ , effectively forcing Tommy to let it go with a gasp and then kicking it far out of his reach. He then came to a crouch in front of him with a wince of pain, blood staining the side of his otherwise pristine green sweater. 

Tommy froze. 

Dream silently dragged his axe forward, carving a trail through the same carpet that was inhibiting Tommy, until he raised it up and brought it to rest just in front of the boy’s nose.

“Does it feel good,  _ Tommy,  _ to be on that end of the blade?” He asked, voice as unreadable as his mask. Tommy remained silent, staring in shock at the glare on the precious blade, so beautiful and yet so very capable of ripping his life away from him with the flick of a wrist. He could see it, over and over, as it struck true, his fearful anticipation of his demise holding him captive for his executioner.

“I think… I think you needed this. Needed to understand what it feels like to be at someone else’s mercy. Are you proud that you did this to someone else? To your own family?”

_ “I didn’t do anything!” _ Tommy finally snapped, desperately pleading out of fear for his life. He didn’t want to die because of what that rich  _ bitch  _ said he did! ”I didn’t– I didn’t do it,  _ please–” _

“That’s what they all say,” Dream interrupted, completely disregarding Tommy’s pleas. He got back to his feet, still holding the axe firmly in front of Tommy to keep him from trying anything funny. “But even if the rumors aren’t entirely accurate, you’re wanted for a reason, and those posters wouldn’t be up if they didn’t have at least an ounce of truth in them. Not to mention that you had a  _ knife  _ with you and you didn’t hesitate to stab me with it. You’re not exactly the perfect picture of innocence, you know.”

Tommy almost cringed. Yeah, now that he thought about it, that did seem pretty bad. But maybe, maybe he could convince Dream, if he could just get a few more words in–

“Well, I think I’ve had enough of you,” Dream sighed. “You’re annoying, and George  _ has  _ been telling me to stop trying to scare people so bad before I kill them, so…” Dream shrugged.

“Sorry,” he said, unapologetic. “Have a safe trip to Hell.”

And Tommy’s breath hitched as the axe rose up, preparing for the final arc.  _ His  _ final arc.

_ Well, it’s been a good run, _ he thought. Then he blinked.

The axe came to a stop at its peak.

_ Actually, fuck that, my life has been utter shit,  _ Tommy amended. 

His humor faded, sudden panic growing as he saw Dream’s grip tighten around the handle. Oh god, he didn’t want to die, he didn’t–

And that was it.

\----------

Tubbo absently hummed some nameless tune as he listened to Techno explaining the value of potatoes while also harvesting them, knees on the dirt and hands covered with it. 

He still didn’t really understand his brother’s love for  _ potatoes,  _ of all things, but to each their own. At least the baked potatoes that Techno sometimes shared with him tasted alright.

Wilbur, when he was in one of his good moods, once told Tubbo that Techno had apparently instigated a whole  _ war  _ dedicated to the vegetable, and while that sounded utterly absurd, he knew not to doubt Wilbur. He also knew that that sounded exactly like something Techno would’ve done during one of his many adventures.

He heard Techno curse, and looked up to see him pull a gnarled, green  _ lump  _ from the soil.

“This may be the most disappointing thing I’ve ever created,” he declared, holding it up for all to see. Wilbur solemnly nodded from his position leaned up against the wall of their house, calmly observing as he usually did.

“What  _ is  _ that?” Tubbo wondered aloud, utterly disgusted and confused. That definitely wasn’t a potato, but he knew that Techno hadn’t planted anything else here. He never did.

“Poisonous potato,” his pink-haired brother stated. “The unfortunate result of a potato leaning more towards the, well,  _ poisonous  _ side of their genetics. It’s actually surprisingly common, though they don’t usually look this bad, but pretty much every potato contains a trace amount of–”

And Tubbo no longer cared enough to listen to the rest, as he already felt that he knew far too much about potatoes thanks to his brother, and he really didn’t need any more. It still seemed strange to him, though, that out of the whole bunch, which had some nice potatoes and some that looked a little worse, but still edible, there was one particularly nasty one. Why did it turn out so much worse than the others? Was it just–

His thoughts were cut off as Wilbur suddenly chuckled, growing into an unnerving giggle before Tubbo turned around to face him. He saw his brother, who he thought he understood pretty well, with another one of those too-sharp grins on his face.

He almost sighed. Looks like Wilbur saw something funny again. That was usually at Tubbo’s expense, so he really wasn’t looking forward to–

A chill ran up his spine, sharp and sudden, and he couldn’t suppress his gasp. He turned left and right, frantically scanning his surroundings as he suddenly got the intense feeling that something was  _ wrong, _ but he didn’t see anything.

“Tubbo?” Techno asked, growing concerned. He was, as usual, unbothered by Wilbur’s strange behavior, though the laughter had stopped by now, and instead focused on the distressed boy before him. “You okay? Should I go get–?”

Tubbo didn’t hear the rest, as he felt something frantically  _ pull, _ and he gave, eyes rolling back and legs collapsing under his weight as he was suddenly dragged into unconsciousness.

He blinked, and he was staring down at himself. Well, his  _ unconscious  _ self, with Techno running forward to pick him up and Wilbur, who suddenly also looked concerned, running inside to tell Phil.

It was very strange, seeing himself from the outside, but he was mostly confused because he didn’t normally leave his body unless he was visiting Tommy.

There was another sharp pull, and once again, Tubbo blinked and found himself somewhere else. It was very disorienting, and thus it took him a few moments to process where he was. When he did, though, he froze, horrified.

There was someone wearing green, wielding a diamond axe–  _ Dream,  _ that had to be Dream– standing over someone else. They looked worse for wear, and when Tubbo’s eyes made their way to their face, he recognized none other than Tommy.

Tommy, scared and trembling beneath Dream, who was raising his axe.

_ Oh god. _

He didn’t hesitate to dart forward, a plan beginning to form in his head.

_ “You should never let yourself get in a situation where you have to fight unarmed,” Techno had once told him. “But if you do, never underestimate the element of surprise.” _

_ “If they don’t know you’re coming, a solid kick can really screw someone over before they even know they should be fighting.” _

Tubbo wasn’t much of a fighter, so he never thought that he’d actually have to apply any of Techno’s occasional advice on the matter, and yet here he was, his leg in the air and Dream stumbling backward, clutching his now cracked mask. He was glad that he had been wearing shoes when he passed out.

He almost lost his balance, but he put his foot back on the ground before he could fall over. His heart was pounding in his ears, but not from fear. No, he was  _ furious. _

_ “Dream!”  _ He shouted, still channeling as much energy as he could to remain solid. He wasn’t really sure if this meant that Dream could see or hear him, but he was going to yell regardless. “What are you  _ doing?!” _

Dream practically jumped out of his skin, whipping around to stare at him with one visible green eye peering through his broken mask, the three pieces only being held together by the hand that wasn’t holding his axe. 

“What the–  _ Tubbo? _ Where did you–?”

Tubbo didn’t care enough to let him finish. He gestured to Tommy, who was still frozen on the ground, but his eyes were trained on Tubbo, now. “Are you blind? He’s a  _ kid! _ Tommy’s my age, and you were going to kill him! What are you doing?!”

Dream was obviously still confused, but his visible eye narrowed. “You live in an isolated house in the woods, Tubbo. You don’t know who this is, or what he’s done. Just let me do my job, it’s none of your concern,” he said, turning and readying his axe once more. He seemed to give up on holding the pieces of his mask on his face, and released his grip on them with a sigh, letting them fall to the dirt.

“Stop it!” Tubbo shouted, panicked. “Tommy didn’t do anything, and I’m not just gonna let you kill my friend!”

Dream blinked. “Your  _ friend? _ How do you even know him? And why would you be friends with a murderer?!”

“I know him because I’ve been doing everything that I can to help him get somewhere  _ safe, _ but someone tries to kill him around every corner! He told me everything, and I know that he didn’t do what they say he did. So should you, Dream, you know how Schlatt and his nobles are. At least give him a chance to explain before you kill him!”

Dream narrowed his eyes. “Ignoring how unlikely all of that sounds, how do you know he wasn’t lying?”

“Because I know him, and he told me he didn’t. He’s the farthest possible thing from a murderer, just give him a chance. He’s hurt now, and I’ll have to leave soon. I know it’s a lot, but could you just… just trust my judgement here, and help him out? You’ll see,” Tubbo pleaded.

He was starting to worry, since he knew that Dream was super stubborn and he could  _ definitely _ hear the muffled voices of his family filtering through, so they must’ve been waking him up. Not to mention how tired he was. 

Oh yeah, he had been solid the whole time he was speaking to Dream, huh?

He didn’t wait for a response from Dream, choosing to just hope for the best in that regard, and ran over to Tommy, who was still silent and wide-eyed on the ground. Yeah, he was probably in shock.

“Tommy? I’m here, I didn’t let him kill you. You’re okay, right?” He asked, reaching out to lay his hand on Tommy’s shoulder for a moment before finally allowing himself to relax. He knew that he faded from Dream’s view from the shocked gasp that sounded from behind him, but Tommy could still see him, as usual.

Tommy gave a slow nod. “Yeah, I’m… I’m… okay? Are you really here? It’s the middle of the day…” 

Tubbo nodded. “Yeah, it’s me. I think… I think you might have pulled me here or something, because that was what it felt like, but we can worry about that later. Dream is going to help you now, and he’s going to say sorry, or you can tell him that I’m going to tell Techno that he hurt my best friend. Okay?”

Tommy gave one of his signature, sharp smiles, albeit a weak and tired one. “Heh. Yeah, I’ll… I’ll tell him…” He trailed off as his limbs suddenly went slack, and he awkwardly slid down into the leaves. Tubbo assumed that he had passed out now that things seemed to have calmed down a bit, since he just went through probably one of the most terrifying experiences of his life, if not  _ the  _ most terrifying.

Tubbo almost sighed. Why couldn’t Tommy just catch a break?

Well, there was nothing to be done about it. Not yet. 

_ “... just, fell over? Was… -thing else? He’s completely still, I’d… he was dead if… -sn’t breathing…” _

_ “...Wil… -aughing, first. What did you…” _

_ “Dream. And… -ndom kid. Don’t know… one of tho-... Couldn’t help it…” _

Tubbo shook his head, disoriented by the growing volume of his family’s voices mixing with the sounds of the forest around him. Yeah, this was by far the strangest out of body experience yet. He definitely had to talk to Tommy about this later, once he was in better shape.

Speaking of which.

Tubbo braced himself, then stood up and narrowed his eyes in what he thought was a threatening way. He focused on going solid again, right in front of Dream, who was still staring dumbfoundedly at Tommy. Tubbo definitely did not take pride in Dream’s flinch.

“Dream. You’d better help him, now. I’ll be back tonight, see you then.”

Dream started to sputter the beginnings of a response, but Tubbo didn’t care enough to listen, nor was he around for long enough to hear it, anyways. He relaxed his grip on…  _ something, _ he couldn’t describe what it felt like, other than some kind of intangible anchor that kept him there. Immediately, his vision blurred, and the world faded to black.

His eyes snapped open, and he was greeted by the very concerned faces of his two brothers and their adoptive dad.

Phil sprung into action the moment Tubbo opened his eyes. “Tubbo! You passed out, are you okay? They said you were acting strange just before, did it have something to do with the weird dream stuff you were talking about a while back?”

Tubbo offered a bashful grin. Oh yeah, he hadn’t really talked to them about Tommy yet, had he? Well, no time like the present.

“I guess I have some explaining to do, huh…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wow who would've guessed that it was dream :o
> 
> i do have a question for you all: i am going to keep a solid 90 percent of this fic in tommy's pov, but i do have another chapter planned for someone else. if you guys liked this look at tubbo's pov, you should say so and i might include more, if i can fit it in without cutting it at awkward points or anything. i could also try writing glimpses of other characters, if you'd like. feedback is important for this idea.
> 
> and that's all, i guess. tell me what you think of this one :)


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> eyo, back at it again.
> 
> i know this took a while, and it's not that long, either, but i come bearing good news.
> 
> within the next few chapters, things are going to pick up a bit, and i'm probably going to write a lot faster. chapters will also probably be longer.
> 
> basically, i have moods when it comes to writing, and i feel a very good mood coming on. i also have quite a bit more free time now.
> 
> so, yeah. no promises, but you can expect me to pick up the pace a bit pretty soon.
> 
> enjoy the chapter :)

Tommy woke up slowly, thankful for the rare warmth surrounding him. He never woke up feeling warm unless he got a hotel room or stayed with someone. He took a moment to try and remember what hotel he was staying at, and then…

_ “Oh shit!”  _ Tommy sat up faster than what should’ve been humanly possible, then winced as his side throbbed with pain.  _ Damn,  _ he was sore. The fact that he was basically just laying on solid ground next to a dying fire didn’t really help. 

His eyes skimmed over a few empty glass bottles resting on the ground beside him. He blinked at them in confusion, wondering where they came from and what they were doing here–

But that didn’t matter! He couldn’t afford to worry about weird bottles or how sore he was, he had to figure out where he was, and how he wasn’t dead, and whatever happened to–

There was a rustle of leaves to his left, and Tommy immediately turned his attention that way. He already knew what he was going to see, but he hoped for the best, anyways, and was ultimately disappointed. Unsurprising, that was practically an everyday thing for him nowadays.

He scrambled to his feet, not thinking just  _ moving, _ and immediately bolted in the opposite direction of the guy who should’ve  _ killed  _ him, that gleaming white mask smiling smugly down at him. But somehow he was alive and somehow there wasn’t an arrow lodged in between his shoulder blades yet, though the crunching of sprinting footsteps behind him was more than enough to indicate that he wasn’t being let off the hook that easily.

“Wait a minute, I’m not–” Dream released an irritated huff from behind him, not showing even a hint of the exhaustion that was already creeping into Tommy’s bones again. “Gah! How the fuck did he expect me to–”

Tommy couldn’t hear any more of Dream’s complaining over the blood rushing in his ears, not that he particularly cared about, or understood, what he was going on about anyways. He focused on weaving in between trees, leaving an awkward, unpredictable trail that Dream would hopefully have trouble following when (if) he lost sight of Tommy. The ground here was pretty flat, and Tommy couldn’t see any great hiding places that stood out to him, so his only hope was to disappear in the trees. 

The idea of climbing one briefly occurred to him, but he almost instantly discarded it as he remembered what the result would probably be.

_ God, _ Tommy was so tired. He wanted to stop,  _ needed _ a fucking break, for once. He remembered last time, how he realized that running wasn’t enough, and then he had  _ somehow _ survived learning that fighting wasn’t a viable option, either. He still had no idea what had happened in between that axe rising up and him waking up next to the fire, but it didn’t matter. This seemed hopeless,  _ he  _ was hopeless. After all this time, all he had done was run away, and now that that wasn’t working, he had no clue what to do.

All he had was this stupid idea to run around blindly and try to confuse the hunter, and even though he had committed to it, he knew that there was no way it would actually–

“Oh. My. GOD! Where did he– what am I supposed to do?! Oh, fuck it, I don’t care anymore. Tubbo can tell Techno whatever he wants.”

Tommy crept around the trunk of one of the thicker trees until he was on the opposite side of the voice. Then, he stuck his head out just enough to see Dream, whose back was turned, stomping away. 

Had he really just… given up? Did he lose sight of Tommy and throw in the towel?

Had… had his half-baked plan actually  _ worked?! _

A slow grin spread over Tommy’s face, and he allowed himself a small, victorious huff of laughter once Dream’s back was much too far away for him to have heard anything.

HA! Maybe his luck wasn’t so bad, after all, if he could pull off a stunt like–

The world turned sideways as Tommy suddenly found half of his face being pressed into the dirt, the wind knocked out of his lungs by a weight slamming into his bruised side. Dream’s distant figure faded from view like a– like a fucking  _ mirage. _

Damn it.

“Let go of me, you  _ stupid–”  _ Tommy grunted, still breathless, but struggling anyways. He was unable to voice his threats to Dream, unfortunately, since he was a bit busy trying to wrestle him off.

“Okay, okay I know this seems bad–  _ stop it–  _ just, ugh, just listen for a second and I’ll explain, calm down, I’m not going to hurt you–”

“Why the  _ fuck  _ would I  _ calm down? _ Leave me alone! I was doing just fine, and getting attacked by you was the  _ last  _ thing that I needed, but I’m not gonna just give up and  _ let  _ you kill me!” Tommy punctuated this sentence with a violent jerk, tearing one of his hands free and using it to punch Dream in the gut.

Dream grunted, but didn’t relent. He seized Tommy’s free hand and pinned it to the ground by the wrist, leaving Tommy helpless, but not for a lack of trying. He was still kicking and swearing and jerking around left and right. Regardless, he was eventually left staring up at Dream’s mask in defeat as he finally exhausted himself. 

(A part of him wondered how Dream could still be wearing that mask, but he didn’t understand where the thought came from, so he ignored it.)

He still wanted to fight, still wanted to do everything he could to get away, but his body just wouldn’t let him anymore. He gave one final, weak push, not even managing to rock Dream back, before he gave up for good.

Dream sighed at the look Tommy was giving him. “Okay, I can explain everything, but I'd rather not hold you down the whole time. I’ll let go of you if you promise not to run away. Deal?”

Tommy’s interest was piqued. He nodded.

Dream released his wrists and stood up, then offered a hand to help Tommy to his feet. Tommy pointedly ignored the gesture and struggled to his feet all on his own, because he didn’t need any help  _ standing, _ thank you very much.

He also just didn’t want Dream to have a grip on him, because, well…

Of course he was running away.

Tommy was weak and tired and honestly doubted that he could run very far at all, but he still wasn’t the type to just give up, especially with such a glowing opportunity in front of him. So, as soon as he was standing and somewhat stable, he turned on his heel and ran.

_ One step, two steps, thr– _

Dream caught him by his wrist, dragging him backwards and almost sending him sprawling on his ass, if not for another hand rising up to press on his back to support him. Tommy growled and tried to wrench himself away, but Dream wasn’t having any more of that, apparently. He didn’t even move.

“I had a feeling. Look, we both know that you can’t run far, anyways. Let’s just go back to camp and talk this out, I don’t have time for this and I’d rather not drag you back after you exhaust yourself and pass out,” Dream requested. 

Tommy…well, he still didn’t want to give up, but Dream had a point. Plus, that gleaming blue axe was still strapped to his back, so Tommy figured that if he still wanted to kill him, he would’ve done so by now. 

That didn’t mean that Tommy trusted him, of course. He was just willing to admit that escape was impossible, and he’d rather be awake for whatever Dream had planned. Plus, he was a bit curious about the supposed “explanation” that Dream had in store. He didn’t really expect much, but at least Tommy would probably learn why he wasn’t dead yet, and what happened between the axe rising up and him waking up beside the fire.

So, Tommy begrudgingly agreed. Dream guided him back to the fire, maintaining his grip on Tommy’s wrist the whole way. That was fair, he supposed, since he knew that he couldn’t exactly be trusted not to run off. It was less trouble for Dream this way.

Their return to camp was met with a dead fire and a few forgotten water bottles lying on the ground, one of which had shattered, leaving a sad circle of sodden leaves in its wake. Tommy assumed that Dream had dropped them when he returned to camp earlier, only to find his kidnapped victim running for the hills. The cushion of leaves was the only reason that more of the glass bottles hadn’t broken upon impact with the ground.

Dream reluctantly released Tommy’s wrist, then gestured for him to sit on the ground near where the fire once was. Tommy obliged cautiously, never taking his eyes off of his strange captor. He refused to think of Dream as anything else, since he knew well that Tommy did not want to be anywhere near him but still forced him to stick around. What could he be planning?

Dream gathered up the bottles that he had dropped, sans the shattered one, of course, then sat across from Tommy. He offered him some water, which Tommy only accepted because he knew he needed it. Dream then pulled out some flint and steel and started trying to light the fire again. It made Tommy nervous.

“Why… why are you starting another fire? Can’t people see the smoke?” Tommy asked. He knew that he wasn’t the best survivalist around, but even he knew that fires were a no-no when you were trying to hide, which he was. Was Dream just an idiot?

“There aren’t many people out here that would actually approach a fire if they thought someone dangerous was there. Most people just call guards, and by the time the guards actually come, I’m long gone.” Tommy had a feeling that Dream was wearing a smug grin under that mask. “And besides, even if someone does come, we don’t have to worry. I could probably fight them off.”

Tommy scoffed. Stupid, cocky green bastard. Then, his mood lifted slightly as a thought occurred to him. 

“I bet I know someone that could beat you,” Tommy announced.

Dream tilted his head. “You know nothing about me, but alright, spill. Who is it?”

Tommy smirked. “My friend told me about him. Said he never loses. His name is Technoblade.”

Dream obviously scowled. Tommy didn’t need to see his face to know that.

“Of course you would say that. Why does  _ everyone  _ say that? Whatever, fine. Maybe you can watch us fight later and you’ll see who’s really better,” Dream was practically fuming, which filled Tommy with immense satisfaction. He didn’t bother hiding his gratification, either. He let it show on his face, which obviously didn’t help Dream’s mood.

Dream didn’t let that continue for long. The fire flickered to life, and the masked man threw some pre-collected sticks that were resting nearby on top of the small flame, allowing it to continue to grow. 

“My fighting ability isn’t the point, anyways,” Dream said, changing the subject. “Let’s just talk about  _ this,” _ he gestured between the two of them, “and what we’re gonna do next. So… what do you remember? You were in shock, so it makes sense that you might have forgotten a few of the things that happened before you passed out.”

Tommy glared. “I remember you saying some stupid shit and then raising your axe to kill me.”

Dream winced. “Seriously? You don’t remember any of what happened after that?” Tommy’s eyes narrowing even further apparently supplied enough of an answer.

Dream sighed and raised his hand, running it through his hair and pulling his hood down in the same motion. “Okay, well, I didn’t kill you. Obviously. Tubbo showed up– out of  _ absolutely nowhere _ , by the way, which I think you know something about so you’d better explain– and he, uh, convinced me to stop. Now I have to help you, but he didn’t say what I’m helping you with, so you have to fill me in on that, too."

Tommy pressed his lips together. Now that Dream had mentioned it, that did sound kind of familiar. Wait, Tubbo could appear in front of other people now? And how had he even  _ been  _ there, it was the middle of the day–

_ “I think… I think you might have pulled me here or something, because that was what it felt like, but we can worry about that later…” _

Tommy blinked, disoriented, as those words came to mind, quickly followed by a rush of unfocused memories of the events following his near-death. How had he pulled Tubbo there? He couldn’t remember what he did. While combing through his memories trying to figure it out, a grin stretched over his face as he realized exactly how Tubbo had “convinced” Dream to stop.

“He  _ convinced  _ you, huh?” Tommy asked, smirking.

Dream was silent for a few moments. Then, “Okay, so you remember. Great. Now we can figure out what we’re doing and I don’t have to explain anything else–”

“What, do you carry around extra masks or something?” Tommy interrupted. “Cause I could’ve sworn that Tubbo broke it when he–”

“It’s  _ enchanted,  _ of  _ course  _ I don’t carry around extras! And it doesn’t matter, anyways, because it already happened so there’s no use worrying about it now.”

“I don’t know, I think it kind of  _ matters _ that Mr. I-never-lose got his ass handed to him by a kid! Not to mention that it was  _ Tubbo! _ That’s just– oh my god, that’s  _ perfect–” _

Dream groaned in exasperation and put his face in his hands. His voice came out even more muffled than it normally was through the mask. “Why does Tubbo like you? Why does  _ anyone  _ like you?”

“Because I’m amazing, obviously,” Tommy answered. “Oh, and Tubbo told me to tell you that Techno will beat your ass if you don’t apologize.”

Dream sighed, defeated. “Of course he did. Well, I’ve done my fair share of explaining, so what’s your story? I still don’t like you, and make no mistake: I would kill you right now if I could. But I’d rather not get on Techno’s bad side, plus even I would feel awful if I made Tubbo cry. So… What is it? Why does he like you so much? How do you even know each other?”

Tommy shrugged. “I’m not really sure why, but he apparently just turns into a ghost or something whenever he goes to sleep, and then he comes to me and I’m the only one that can see him. And he likes me because everyone who knows me likes me!”

“...Sure. Alright, fine, I’ve heard less likely stories. You can elaborate as we walk later. Speaking of which, where are we going? I have some friends waiting for me, and I’d rather not spend too much time with you, so let’s just get moving as quickly as possible.”

Tommy glared, which he found himself doing often around Dream. “I don’t need your help. If you’re so busy, then just go. I can make it on my own.”

Dream sighed. “That’s a great idea, but I honestly have no idea what Tubbo might do and, again, I’d  _ really  _ rather not end up on Techno’s bad side. Let’s just get this over with and never talk to each other again.”

Tommy frowned. That wasn’t very reassuring, but he had to admit that Dream would probably be really helpful to have around. He was tired, weaker than he’d ever been,  _ and  _ wounded. A solid companion couldn’t hurt.

(Unless he decided to put that axe to use again–)

Whatever. Tommy wasn’t scared, but Dream obviously was, if the only reason he wanted to help was to make sure that Techno still liked him. He fully intended to hold that over the masked man’s head, and even though he didn’t trust him in the slightest, he doubted that Dream would try to kill him again. 

Plus, he still had Tubbo on his side, and he would be around every night. Not to mention that Tommy could apparently just summon his friend whenever he wanted. If he could just figure out how to do that again, he could use that invisibility to get the drop on anyone, anytime.

Well, there wasn’t much point in thinking about it, anyways. Dream probably wouldn’t be leaving him alone unless he found a way to sneak off. May as well try to tolerate him.

“Where do you  _ think  _ I’m going?” Tommy snapped. Seriously, as if it wasn’t obvious. “I’m going to Tubbo’s house. He invited me.”

Dream took a moment to process that, and Tommy could practically see the cogs turning as he thought about just how far away that house was. 

Tommy hoped that Dream really was in a hurry, because this trip wasn’t going to be short. He could at least find some happiness in making Dream as late as possible.

“...Damn it.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> before you mention dream seeming a bit out of character, allow me to explain:
> 
> basically, i think that a dream whose minecraft skills are reality would be pretty confident. not to mention that he doesn't have to worry about a huge audience calling him an asshole for being cocky. honestly, it makes sense for dream in this setting to be pretty cocky, all things considered.
> 
> it's also just fun to write him this way. let the man be confident!
> 
> tell me what you think. i'll tone it down a bit if it's too offputting.


	8. Chapter 8

There were a lot of words that Tommy could use to describe his travels with his new least favorite person, Dream. Awkward, tense, annoying, stupid, boring, underwhelming, (kind of terrifying).

But mostly, he’d just sum up the entire experience as  _ terrible _ . 

He hated Dream from the start, of course, and he definitely derived no small amount of joy from watching the man grow twitchier the longer they walked. He was in a hurry, apparently, though he had yet to mention why. Tommy definitely did  _ not  _ intentionally walk slower because of this. Tubbo told him to stop being petty.

So, yes, he disliked his new companion, and the feeling was mutual, but he still had pretty high hopes for this trip. When it was just him and Tubbo, the whole experience was mostly just an unfortunate amalgamation of pain and adrenaline, but having probably the world’s most effective bodyguard walking a few strides ahead definitely toned that down. Even though he didn’t want to  _ talk _ to Dream, he hoped that something would happen now that he was here, that way he could observe the chaos.

But  _ nothing happened. _

All they did was  _ walk,  _ with Dream leading the way because he knew the fastest way to get there, and the masked man actually lit a fire every night to keep monsters away. Yes, that was definitely wise, but it was also  _ boring. _ Now that he had a cool axe man (not that he would  _ ever  _ tell Dream that he thought of him that way) with him, the world decided to stop throwing constant bullshit his way. It wasn’t fair!

Tommy still talked to Tubbo every night, though he grabbed his lantern and got away from Dream before doing so, since he did  _ not  _ want to play translator and Dream would definitely ask questions if he heard one end of their conversation. Tubbo kept trying to tell him that he should be glad to finally be getting a break, which he  _ was, _ but he felt that he had a right to be miffed. It was truly a cruel twist of fate, that his journey only entered a peaceful stretch once he had an actual way to remain safe from harm. Tubbo said he understood, but his expression said otherwise. Tommy mostly ignored the majority of Tubbo’s reasoning, because he knew what the boy was probably saying, anyways.

A few days in, Dream spoke to him for perhaps the fifth time since their long walk began, and offered him a small vial containing some weird, pale pink fluid. Tommy promptly asked what the fuck it was supposed to be.

“Regeneration potion,” Dream had explained. “It’ll help you heal up faster, then maybe you won’t walk so slow anymore. I don’t have many of those, and they’re not easy to make, so some thanks would be nice.”

Tommy downed the vial without hesitation, frowning at the oddly salty taste, then threw the empty glass out of sight and laughed at the noise that it made when it landed. 

Dream didn’t give him anything else.

Sure enough, though, he felt good as new in just a few hours. What kind of magic was that? He’d been sore and tired for what felt like  _ ages,  _ and now he was perfectly fine. How convenient.

If Tommy actually did pick up the pace a bit after that, no one needed to mention it. And no one did.

—————

“Hey Dream,” Tommy began. His boredom had finally driven him to actually pursue conversation with his traveling companion. Talking to Tubbo for a few hours every night before he eventually fell asleep just wasn’t enough to keep him going through the whole day anymore.

Dream started slightly, not really frightened but definitely surprised. Yeah, they really hadn’t talked much. “Hm?”

“What’s with the weird clone things that you use? Y’know, the one that you used to almost kill me, and the one that made me think you gave up and ran away. How’d you do that?”

Dream slowed and turned to him, deadpan. “How do you think?”

Tommy frowned.  _ Rude.  _ “So are you one of those people with powers, then? The king said he had all of you under control.”

Dream scoffed. “Schlatt says a lot of things. But yes, I guess I am one of those ‘people with powers.’ Why do you sound surprised? Aren’t you one, too?”

Tommy blinked, shocked. “What? No! I don’t have powers, never have. What are you going on about?”

Dream tilted his head, a normally comical action turned unnerving by his mask. Something about that just wasn’t right. “Really? But I thought… hmm. You should talk to Phil when you get there, he’ll know more about this than I do.”

Tommy was  _ very  _ confused. What did that even mean? He didn’t have any powers, he would definitely know if he did. And yet Dream somehow just decided that he  _ did,  _ in fact, have powers, after only knowing him for a few days. What could’ve given him that idea?

Tommy let that conversation die there, which wasn’t a struggle, since tense silence was the default state of the atmosphere during their travels. Later, once the sun had gone down, he went off with his lantern to talk to Tubbo again. Dream knew what was happening by now, and simply offered a small wave as Tommy left. Tommy did not reciprocate the gesture.

Tubbo appeared after only a few quiet minutes of waiting. Tommy smirked, glad that he had gotten so good at predicting when his friend would arrive.

Tubbo took a moment to orient himself, then smiled when he saw Tommy.

“Tommy! Did anything happen today?” He asked.

Tommy scoffed. “What do you think? Nothing ever happens.”

“Well, at least you didn’t get hurt or anything,” Tubbo shrugged. He was repeating himself like a broken record.

“...Right,” Tommy agreed, irritated. Yes, he was a bit bothered by the repetition, but he wasn’t going to be an asshole because of it. Tubbo was his best friend, and he didn’t deserve that.

A thought suddenly came to mind.

“Oh! Tubbo, Dream said some weird shit today”

“Really? You guys actually talked?” Tubbo seemed genuinely surprised.

“Shut up, we’ve been talking. I told you everything’s fine,” Tommy retorted.

“Sure you did, but you have yet to go anywhere near him while I’m here. Why don’t we all just have a conversation?”

“I told you we’d do that some other time! And that’s not the point, anyways. Dream said that he thought I had powers this entire time. Weird, right?”

Tubbo paused. He suddenly seemed thoughtful. “He did?”

“Yeah, he told me to talk to that Phil guy about it. Now I’m worried because he gave me the idea and then just shut up about it, but I think I’d know if I had powers, right?”

Tubbo didn’t respond quite as he had hoped. “Well… we still haven’t really talked about how you pulled me to you before. I didn’t go to sleep, I just passed out and then I was with you. That’s not a normal thing.”

“Well yeah, but that’s not a  _ me  _ thing,” Tommy deflected. “That was  _ your  _ power. Yeah, I might have triggered it somehow, but that’s probably for the same reason that you’re drawn to me at night. Maybe I can just do that because we trust each other or something.”

“Maybe, but that still doesn’t explain why you can see me in the first place. We know  _ that’s  _ not a me thing, because I didn’t even know that it was possible for other people to see me, and even now I have to actively try to be visible to anyone else. That’s… probably because of you.”

“But I can’t see ghosts or anything! I’ve never talked to anyone like you before, so that doesn’t make sense! Maybe you’ve just been doing something without noticing,” Tommy insisted.

Tommy didn’t  _ want  _ to have powers, partly because those came with trouble, and mostly because, at this rate, it was sounding like whatever powers he might have were  _ lame. _ Being able to see ghosts or whatever, but only Tubbo? That was even worse than being the one turning into a ghost! At least Tubbo could spy on people.

If he was going to have powers anyways, they might as well be cool. But so far, they didn’t sound very cool, so it was probably just Tubbo accidentally doing stuff with his own powers, or something. 

Tubbo sighed. “Well, neither of us really know, so maybe Dream was right about you talking to Phil. I could just ask him, but it’s probably best for him to see you in person. We can figure it out then.”

Tommy frowned, unsatisfied, but he didn’t want to press the issue any further. Tubbo was right, neither of them really knew what was going on, so there was no point in arguing or anything when they could just wait and get a definitive answer later. 

Well, as long as that Phil guy could actually tell whether or not Tommy had powers. No one had really explained Phil to Tommy. Tubbo mostly told random stories that Tommy planned to use to embarrass his family later, but Phil was rarely too involved in their shenanigans, as far as he knew. He seemed to be the voice of reason amidst the varying, chaotic people that lived with him.

Tommy didn’t think that he sounded all that great, but he had yet to meet the guy, so he would save his final judgement until then.

Him and Tubbo went on to talk about more casual things, smiling and sharing some of those simple, meaningless conversations that somehow seem to form deeper connections than any of the important ones. 

“Would you rather go to Schlatt’s castle, or the Nether?”

“What the fuck kind of question is that, Tubbo? The Nether, obviously.”

This went on for most of the night, until Tommy eventually had to submit to his own tiredness and call it a night. Tubbo had no issue with this, as it was routine by this point, and he could see how tired he was. He actively encouraged Tommy to get some sleep.

“Be nice to Dream, okay? We should really all sit down and talk tomorrow night, I think you guys just have the wrong idea about each other. He’s really not that bad!”

Tommy scowled, but gave a single, reluctant nod anyways. “Sure, fine. But seriously, I fucking hate that guy. He’s so annoying and selfish and self centered and– ugh! And he wears green! How does anyone like him?!”

Tubbo laughed. “Just give him a chance! I get that you guys had a…  _ rough  _ first meeting, but he knows better now. Maybe you could even get some advice from him or something, you keep saying how you want to get good at fighting, and Dream is one of the best. You should ask him!”

“I will  _ not  _ ask him to teach me anything. What a stupid idea.”

Tubbo only laughed again. It seemed that he didn’t quite understand Tommy’s point of view here, which was annoying.

“Well, I guess we’ll see what ends up happening. I won’t keep you up any longer, so see you tomorrow night, Tommy! I hope everything goes well!”

Tommy smiled back at him, his previous anger quelled by Tubbo’s constant positivity. Fine, maybe it  _ was  _ a bit contagious.

“Yeah, see you tomorrow night.”

—————

Tommy slowly made his way back towards Dream and the fire, the orange light cast by his lantern casting eerie shadows between the trees, reaching away from him like ghostly fingers. Tommy was not unsettled by this, because men weren’t scared of the dark, and he did  _ not _ walk ever so slightly faster.

Tubbo hadn’t disappeared or anything, but he knew that Tommy didn’t want to talk to him around Dream, so he had taken to walking around and exploring the forest at night. Tommy would’ve used an opportunity like that to scare the shit out of any random people walking through the woods, as a childish spectre flitting between the trees at night would be more than enough to unsettle just about anyone. He doubted that Tubbo would do the same, though. He was too nice to do anything like that at someone else’s expense, no matter how funny it would be.

Tommy let his thoughts drift to the back of his mind as the light of the fire came into view. Dream was still sitting beside it, using some kind of strange stone to sharpen the blade of his axe. The glare of the diamond edge illuminated half of his mask in strange, fractured light.

Tommy frowned at the sight of him, but he was too tired to pick a fight with him. Instead, he chose to say pretty much the bare minimum.

“Tubbo wants to talk to you tomorrow night.”

Dream paused, the repetitive swiping motion of his sharpening temporarily ceased. Then, he shrugged. “Alright. I’ve been wanting to talk to him about all of this, anyways. Is he going to be… visible, or will you have to translate?”

Tommy shrugged, not really listening to Dream as he practically flopped on the bedroll that the masked man had not only supplied, but also laid out for him in a surprisingly considerate gesture. He wasn’t really thinking about that, though. The sight of a decent place to sleep had been enough to pretty much instantly drain what little remained of his energy, so he wasn’t thinking about much at all. He was fast asleep within seconds.

Tommy had strange dreams that night. Images of himself curled up in his bedroll, or even of Tubbo dozing in what must have been his own room.

He didn’t remember any of it when he woke up, though. Only a faint sense of unease remained.

—————

The next day passed mostly uneventfully, but Tommy felt that something was… off.

He felt something pooling in his core, something strange and unlike anything he had ever felt before. It didn’t hurt him, didn’t do much of anything besides unsettle him, really, but something about it still felt  _ wrong. _ It wasn’t evil or malicious, but it didn’t belong there. It didn’t belong with him. He knew that it was coming from somewhere, but had no idea where that might be. 

Regardless, he kept walking. He tried not to let any hint of his discomfort show, because, again, Dream was the  _ last  _ person he wanted to discuss his problems with. He’d save it for Tubbo.

He only spoke with Dream to ask for food or water as needed, since he was holding most of their stuff. Tommy wondered how he managed to fit all of it in his bag, but he didn’t voice it. It remained as something that he was vaguely curious about, but his wondering never tormented him enough to actually ask about it.

Eventually, when the sun was just beginning to sink below the horizon, Dream brought their traveling to a stop and began to set up another fire. He offhandedly mentioned that they were only a few days away, now. Both of them experienced quiet satisfaction over that news, glad to be creeping ever closer to the point where they wouldn’t have to tolerate each other anymore.

Silence settled again, with Dream watching the fire and Tommy staring up at the darkening sky, knowing that Tubbo would be coming soon. It felt strange not to be walking far away from Dream at this point, but he knew that his friend would be happy that Tommy finally decided to grant his wish. He still had no clue why Tubbo even wanted to talk to Dream so badly. He seemed like the kind of person that anyone would be glad to  _ not  _ have to deal with, but apparently that was “just a Tommy thing,” as Tubbo had once put it.

The sky grew darker, the fire brighter and the moon higher, but no one came. Seconds, minutes, hours passed in nervous anticipation, but no one appeared before them. Maybe he was just staying up late. They continued to wait in silence.

Tubbo never came.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> :)


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is definitely my favorite chapter so far. i'm sure you guys will love it too :)
> 
> enjoy!

Dream was the first to break the thick silence that had fallen between them, surprisingly enough.

“We… we should get some sleep. The sun will rise soon, and I’m fine with sleeping in a bit, but we can’t keep going without rest. I’m sure he’ll come tomorrow night.”

Tommy hummed, not really acknowledging the words. He was so tired that his eyes kept falling closed against his will, but he didn’t want to fall asleep. What if Tubbo did show up, only to find that both of them were passed out? He probably wouldn’t want to wake Tommy up, either. It was best to just keep waiting.

“Tommy.”

Was the fire getting brighter, or was the night getting darker? A glance at the sky proved that it was the latter, as a dark cloud was passing over the moon. Tommy was transfixed by the flames.

“Tommy!”

He slowly turned to Dream, eyes dull and tired and shoulders weighed down by exhaustion, but his brows were still set with determination.  _ “What.” _

“Just… get some sleep, man. You don’t want to go through another day of walking tomorrow without any sleep, and I won’t wait for you. I’m in a hurry, remember?”

“Hm.”

“Are you seriously– ugh, fine. Think of it this way: if you don’t sleep tonight, you’ll be way too tired to stay up tomorrow, and there’s no way he  _ won’t  _ come tomorrow. Do you really want to miss that?”

Tommy was ready to deny him again, but then he paused, considering.

Dream noticed his hesitation. “Yeah, sounds like a good idea, right? C’mon, you look like you’re about to fall over, anyways. Let’s just lay out our bedrolls and get some sleep.”

Tommy hated to admit it, but it really  _ did  _ sound like a good idea. Dream was probably right about how tired he would be tomorrow, as well. The thought of Tubbo showing up while he was asleep still concerned him, but he decided that being able to continue traveling was more important.

That was the whole point, after all. No matter what happened over the next few days, he’d be seeing Tubbo soon. He was on his way to his house!

He sluggishly unrolled the bedroll that Dream offered him, brushed the leaves away from it, and scratched the words  _ “WAKE ME UP!” _ in the dirt next to him, that way Tubbo would hopefully take the hint when he did show up.

Then, he passed out before another minute could pass. 

No one woke him up, and he couldn’t remember if he had any dreams that night.

\----------

Dream shook him awake once the sun had risen to its peak, silhouetted by the blinding light behind him as he leaned over Tommy, their faces only inches apart. 

“Hi.”

Tommy flinched, instantly uncomfortable, so he scrambled to roll out of Dream’s reach and get to his feet as soon as he was aware enough to realize what was happening. Dream wheezed as Tommy glowered, still blinking as his eyes adjusted to the light.

“What the  _ fuck?! _ Why did you do that?!” Tommy snapped, furious. What a terrible way to wake up!

Dream just wheezed harder, shrinking into himself and bending over as he clutched his stomach. He was actually deflating like a balloon, what the fuck?

“You– it–” Dream took a moment to drag in a breath, stuttering as his body continued its attempts to deflate itself. “It woke you up well enough, right?”

Tommy attempted to glare even harder. “I hate you so much. I hope your nonexistent friends decide you took too long and leave you.”

Dream only snorted, his weird wheezing finally calming down as the moment passed. “Nah, they’re used to me going a bit off schedule at this point. If they really get annoyed, they’ll just come after me. It’s happened before.”

Tommy frowned. “How often do you go off without them to kill people?”

Dream shrugged. “Not very often, actually. We have a lot of… business to take care of, back in the city. We usually stick together.”

“So why did you decide to leave them to your guys’  _ ‘business’  _ and go hunt down some random kid you saw on a piece of paper?” Tommy pressed, skeptical. 

Dream’s lighthearted mood dropped like a stone. “None of your business.”

Tommy had apparently pushed some buttons that were better left untouched. He didn’t bother trying to pick up the conversation again, partly because he didn’t like talking to Dream in the first place, and partly because he could tell that Dream would not respond well. Thus, they packed up their things and continued walking in silence as usual. 

The tension in the air eventually faded as Dream relaxed his posture again, but the silence was still too thick for either of them to willingly break.

Tommy’s concern from the night before still remained. He was keenly aware of how no one had awakened him before Dream, and while Tubbo could have appeared and just decided to let him rest in spite of his obvious wishes in the contrary, Tommy doubted that was the case. For the first time since their initial meeting, Tubbo hadn’t shown up that night.

Tommy could’ve just shrugged this off as Tubbo staying up all night for something at home, or him just choosing to go somewhere else during his ghost hours, but he didn’t think that could’ve been the case, for several reasons. One, Tubbo hadn’t told him that he planned on doing anything, and two, he  _ specifically  _ requested to speak with Dream that night, and their farewells had been filled with promises to see each other again the following night. Something must have happened for Tubbo not to show.

The strange energy building in his core also gave him an idea, but he chose not to think too hard about it unless he had to. Tubbo would come tonight, and then all of his worries would be for naught. Right?

Unfortunately, that was not the case. After a day much like all of the others, another night of concerned anticipation passed. This time, Dream managed to convince him to go to sleep a bit sooner, since he was surprisingly good at making everything he said sound like the best idea in history. Tommy hated that, but he  _ was  _ tired, so he went to sleep anyway.

This night was not a dreamless one.

\----------

Tommy woke up standing outside of a house.

At first, he just accepted this as normal, as one is wont to do in a dream, but then he paused. Blinked.

He remembered falling asleep, recognized the strangeness of the situation he was in, but still shrugged it off as a dream. It was strange, as he had never had a lucid dream before, but he knew that they could happen, and he knew he was asleep. He could put two and two together.

The house was small. It wasn’t anything special, in fact it seemed perfectly normal. It wouldn’t have stood out in any neighborhood, with its light blue painted walls and slightly overgrown flower garden. Really, the only unusual thing about it would’ve been the abnormally large plot of what looked like potatoes growing to one side, but there was one big detail that seemed off putting to Tommy, much more so than the potatoes.

This house, as normal as it appeared, was out in the middle of nowhere. No neighbors, no streets, no people running around. It was just… a house in the middle of the forest, surrounded by nature. Now that Tommy thought about it, that sounded a lot like–

_ Tubbo’s house. _

It seemed so clear, now. The potatoes must have been from Techno, the flowers grown by Tubbo in an attempt to attract bees. It was exactly as his friend had described it. But why, no,  _ how  _ was Tommy here? He started to wonder if this was really just a dream.

He ignored the unease that was beginning to grow inside of him. Instead, he focused on the muffled voices that he could hear sounding from within.

He took a step forward, then another, and soon he was walking towards the structure. He wanted to hear what they were saying. He was keenly aware of how his steps weren’t making any sound, and his unease grew, but he pressed forward. Surely this wasn’t what it was starting to seem like.

He reached the front door, and the voices were louder, but still too muffled to understand. It didn’t help when they hushed themselves, seemingly aware of how loud they had become. Tommy would have to go inside to hear them, but he couldn’t just barge in. That was  _ not  _ the kind of impression that he wanted to make on Tubbo’s family. So, he raised his fist to knock.

He wasn’t particularly surprised, but his heart dropped and his stomach filled with dread as his hand soundlessly fell through the door with no resistance. This was… this was  _ Tubbo’s _ thing, he wasn’t supposed to be able to do this–

The voices rose again, and Tommy’s curiosity rose above the dread. He wanted to know what they were saying, and if he went in there, he’d be able to find Tubbo, wake him up, and figure out what was happening. Surely there was a reasonable explanation for all of this.

So, Tommy ignored the wrongness of it all and walked through the door, seeing the inside of the house for the first time. He didn’t pay too much attention to his surroundings, though, as he instead got to work trying to find Tubbo’s room. He went to ascend a set of stairs, as he figured that most of the bedrooms would probably be up there, but then–

“–all been thinking it, right? That kid, Tubbo’s new ‘friend,’ is at the center of all of this. It’s all too coincidental for him to actually be an innocent kid that just showed up and befriended Tubbo one day.”

Tommy paused. He didn’t recognize the voice, but they were talking about  _ him.  _ They were suspicious of him. Why? He hadn’t done anything, they hadn’t even met him, what could’ve happened?

He abandoned the stairs and turned towards the room where that conversation was taking place. He couldn’t just leave it at that, not without finding out why they were already suspicious of him. He had to hear more, had to find out  _ why. _

He went through an empty doorway and found two strangers sitting across from each other, a fire blazing in the fireplace between them. They were clearly in the midst of a slightly heated conversation.

Tommy had never seen them, but he recognized them based on how Tubbo had described his family. Techno, with his red eyes and long, pink hair sat on one side, while Phil, with green eyes and pale blonde hair, but most notably his giant, black feathered wings, sat on the other. Neither acknowledged Tommy or seemed aware of his presence in any way, not that he expected them to. He knew how Tubbo’s ghost thing worked.

Phil’s lips pulled into a frown. The tips of his wings twitched nervously. “We don’t know that. We don’t know anything yet, so let’s just keep an eye out and give him the benefit of the doubt–”

“ _ ‘Give him the benefit of the doubt’?  _ Phil, it’s obvious! You know that Wil wasn’t lying, and the last time he was in  _ that  _ state… you know what happened. We can’t wait, we need to do something. Who knows how long we have before Tubbo–”

_ “Fine!”  _ Phil interrupted. “Fine, Techno. You’re right, it’s not worth it. But what can we  _ do? _ That’s the future, and no matter how hard we try, we can’t change it.”

“No, we can’t stop it from happening, but we can get all of our shit together to bring him back. They won’t be able to stop us.”

Phil sighed. “Yeah, maybe you’re right. Maybe that’s all we can do…” He looked tired.

Tommy had gone pale. Wilbur had predicted something happening to Tubbo? Why did they believe everything Wilbur said, and how did it involve Tommy? He didn’t understand, but he had to know, he had to talk to Tubbo and make sure he was okay–

_ “He’s here,” _ came a choked voice from a room upstairs. Their words sounded like they were forced out between a laugh and a sob. Techno and Phil immediately jumped to their feet. Techno’s eyes began to glow red.

Phil steeled his shoulders, wings folded regally behind him. “Techno, make sure Wil is okay, and keep an eye on things in here. I’ll fly around and make sure no one comes close to the house.”

Techno gave a sharp nod and grabbed a sword off the wall, sweeping his hair behind him and dashing upstairs. Tommy stumbled after him as the sound of the front door slamming behind Phil echoed through the house.

Techno stopped at the first door on the left, which Tommy assumed must’ve been Wilbur’s room. He ran past Techno and started poking his head through the other doors until he found one room with an occupied bed. He saw a head of chestnut hair resting on the pillow, and immediately recognized it as his friend.

“Tubbo!” He shouted, not bothering with the gentle approach at waking him up. “Tubbo, something’s happening, I think you might be in danger but I don’t know because this is all really confusing, but you need to  _ wake up!” _

Tubbo didn’t move. Damn, was he really such a deep sleeper?

_ “Tubbo! _ C’mon, this seems pretty bad–” Tommy’s eyes widened as they drifted up to the ceiling, where someone dressed all in black was somehow hanging. They had a mask covering the lower half of their face, depicting a sharp-toothed grin. They stared down at Tubbo like he was their prey.

Tommy was instantly driven into panic.  _ “Wake up!  _ Someone’s here, Tubbo, can’t you hear me?!  _ Wake up!”  _ He screamed. Tubbo was still. The person descended, feet silently meeting the ground like a cat. They crept closer to the bed.

Tommy kept screaming for his friend to wake up, to no avail. It was like he was invisible and inaudible to Tubbo, too, but that didn’t make sense because it had never been that way. Tommy had  _ always  _ been able to see Tubbo, so why wouldn’t it be the same the other way around?

As Tommy’s fist slammed ineffectively through the intruder’s skull, a dreadful thought occurred to him. He tried to copy Tubbo and kick them in the back of the head, but his foot passed through harmlessly, and he fell over as he had knocked himself off balance. He had no idea how Tubbo made himself solid.

_ Maybe being able to see him really was a  _ me  _ thing. _

_ “Tubbo! Anyone! Listen, come here! Someone’s in here!”  _ Tommy screamed, but no one heard him. His voice rang desperately on deaf ears.

The intruder grabbed Tubbo in one swift motion. Tubbo’s eyes snapped open, and he screamed, only to have a hand slapped over his mouth. He kicked and struggled to escape their hold, but they didn’t budge except to stand up with him in their arms and move towards the window. 

Tommy could only sit and watch, tears springing to his eyes as he watched his friend being taken away.

Just in time, the door slammed open, and Techno came storming in, eyes wild and frantic. They settled on the intruder holding his struggling brother, and immediately lit up the room in furious scarlet. Techno lifted his blade.

“Let. Him. Go.”

The intruder only offered an eye smile and a mock salute before jumping out the window, Tubbo’s muffled screams fading behind them. Techno jumped right after them, bringing a hand to his mouth and sending a piercing note ringing through the forest.

Tommy ran to the window, but he didn’t jump. He was frozen, stuck watching the scene from afar. He had no place down there, not when there was nothing he could do to help.

_ “LET ME OUT! LET ME OUT!” _ Came what Tommy now recognized as Wilbur’s voice, hoarse but desperate. What sounded like full-body pounding against the door followed, but the door didn’t give. Regardless of how alarming this was, Tommy was too focused on the events taking place outside to really pay him any mind.

Time seemed to stop as a strange whistle sounded, different from what Techno had just done. No, this wasn’t just a whistle. Something about it sent Tommy spiraling into terror, and he looked up as a predator descended from above.

Phil shot down like a rocket in reverse, the air whistling around him as he dive-bombed his target in a manner not unlike a bird of prey, with his sword extended in place of talons. He descended with the speed and precision of a bullet, and Tommy knew that there was no escape for his unfortunate target. Good.

Techno skidded to a stop, clearly not wanting to be anywhere near the incoming impact. Tommy would’ve done the same. He hoped Tubbo would be okay, but he had a feeling Phil wouldn’t leave a scratch on the boy. He seemed more controlled than that.

Four words seemed to fill the entire world right before everything went to hell.

_ “Down with the revolution.” _

A cloud of dust and leaves spread as Phil hit the ground, a terrible scraping sound followed by one huge flap of ebony wings that dispersed the dust, revealing a sight that sent tears cascading down Tommy’s cheeks.

A huge scar had been carved into the earth where the intruder once stood, Phil’s sword left abandoned at the end of it, as it had been driven too deep for him to remove. But there was no blood, no body, no anything.

They were gone. The intruder was gone, and so was Tubbo. 

Tommy woke up screaming.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> im not evil i swear please dont yell at me


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the plot has finally thickened. you guys weren't expecting last chapter's cliffhanger, were you?
> 
> i may or may not have taken quite a bit of pleasure in seeing the pandemonium in the comments, though i will say that i'm surprised none of you mentioned wilbur.
> 
> well, that's in the past. now it's time for the present. i'm not incredibly happy with this chapter, but i don't hate it, so we're just gonna roll with it.
> 
> also this is the longest chapter in quite a while. pog.
> 
> enjoy :)

Mere moments after Tommy woke up back in his solid body, Dream scrambled straight to him to try and calm him down as he screamed, obviously confused and disoriented after having just been woken up by the sound. He awkwardly hovered and spoke some words that Tommy couldn’t hear, then grabbed his shoulder when he received no response.

Tommy immediately shoved him away and made an effort to shut himself up, clamping his lips together and letting his anguish escape through the tears running down his face, rather than his voice. He was horrified, he’d just seen something terrible, but it only took him a few moments to remember why making so much noise at night was a bad idea. He also wanted Dream to back off.

Dream seemed to get the idea, at least, and he left Tommy to his own devices as he tried to calm himself down.

A few moments passed as they both caught their breath. After everything seemed to have mostly calmed down, Dream cleared his throat. Tommy shrunk in on himself further. This would be fun.

“Do you… want to talk about it?” Dream prompted, very awkward but genuinely concerned. “That must’ve been one hell of a nightmare.”

“It wasn’t a nightmare!” Tommy snapped, voice hoarse. “It was real, I was there. Me and T-Tubbo must’ve, I don’t know, switched, or something. But I was there. I saw it.”

Dream froze, and Tommy noticed for the first time that he wasn’t wearing his mask as he saw his expression fall. Guess he didn’t sleep with it on.

“You… You saw something that actually happened, and you screamed like that?” Dream asked, shaken. 

Tommy nodded. He didn’t really want to talk about it, but he doubted that hiding that kind of information would do him any good. Dream could probably be really helpful, anyways, if he decided to do anything.

“Someone took him. They snuck into their house and grabbed him and then they just… disappeared. Phil was about to murder them.”

Dream grimaced. “Fuck. Who did they take?”

Tommy swallowed. It hurt to revive the image in his mind. “Tubbo,” he breathed, quieter than he had probably been in his entire life.

Dream put his face in his hands.  _ “Damn it. _ Are you sure this wasn’t just a dream? That’s– that’s a big deal, Tommy. It’s seriously bad news if Tubbo really got kidnapped.”

A spark of frustration lit up in Tommy at Dream’s continued interrogation combined with his doubt, but it calmed just as quickly as he realized that he didn’t mean that in a bad way. He was just hoping that it wasn’t the truth.

Tommy wished it was a dream, too, but he knew better. That was too real, too visceral to have been anything other than the truth. He met Dream’s eyes and gave a finalizing nod, confirming his certainty.

Dream’s face couldn’t seem to decide which expression to make at that news, but he eventually took a deep breath and put up a calm front. Tommy could tell it was a farce. Neither of them were calm, it was impossible after what had just happened.

“Okay,” Dream began, “Okay, that’s… that changes things. We’re gonna have to try and speed things up a bit, obviously. I’ll get you there and then go back, get my friends, and regroup with all of you to figure this out. Tell Phil I’ll be there in two weeks, tops, if he’ll even wait that long.”

Tommy almost agreed, but then a thought occurred to him. His mood plummeted even further. “They don’t trust me. I heard them talking about how I must have something to do with all of this,” Tommy buried his fingers in his hair, anxious. “They might just kill me when I get there.”

Dream narrowed his eyes. Oh shit, he didn’t trust Tommy either, did he? He was an idiot, now where was he supposed to go? Fuck, what was he thinking?!

Dream’s expression suddenly softened, much to Tommy’s surprise. “I think I get it now,” Dream said, considering. “Tubbo was right. I’ll go with you and set them straight, make sure they don’t do anything stupid, and  _ then  _ I’ll head out. You’re not going to die.”

Tommy let out an involuntary sigh of relief, then caught himself. He glared at Dream, suspicious. “What changed?”

Dream smiled, smug. “I just realized that you’re totally harmless. Seriously, I squinted and you looked like I just slotted your head under a guillotine. There’s no way you could’ve done any of the stuff on the poster, you wouldn’t look like that if you had.”

Tommy bristled. “I’m not harmless! Or scared! I stabbed you, remember?! And I’ll do it again, bitch!”

Dream laughed, not intimidated in the slightest. “You  _ scratched  _ me, and you don’t even have a weapon anymore! You couldn’t hurt anyone even if you  _ were  _ an insane child murderer.” 

Dream seemed to come to a realization, then. “Wait, that’s actually a problem. Do you have any other weapons on you?”

Tommy nodded. “Of course! My hands are deadly weapons on their own. I don’t need to shank someone to kill them.”

Dream shook his head. “That’s… that’s just not true. You need something to defend yourself with, hold on…”

With that, Dream turned around and made his way to his bag. He dug through it carelessly, throwing out a few bundles of wheat, a bucket, a fishing rod, and a handful of sticks before he finally found what he was looking for with an  _ “Aha!” _

He pulled a fully sized iron axe out of his bag with a smile on his face. It was obviously much too large to fit in there. He then walked back to Tommy and held it out to him like a prize.

Tommy had reached his limit. After a few seconds of staring at the extended weapon, his face scrunched up in disbelief and confusion as he practically shouted, “Okay, what the  _ fuck? _ I’ve been ignoring it until now, but how the fuck did you manage to fit all of that in your bag?!”

Dream grinned as he set the axe down just in front of Tommy. “My friend knows how to work with enchantments. He’s the one who made all of my weapons, and he worked some magic on my bag, too. Don’t ask me how it works, though. Enchantments are his thing, not mine.”

Tommy frowned. Now  _ he  _ wanted an enchanted bag, that seemed so convenient! But there was obviously no way for him to get one now, so he instead chose to focus on more achievable things by grabbing the offered axe, standing up, and trying to get a feel for it. He had never used an axe before, and he had a feeling that Dream could tell based on the way he was looking at him as he gave it a test swing.

“What… what are you doing?” Dream asked, confused.

Tommy looked at him like he was an idiot. “I’m practicing! I’m, uh, a little rusty, but I just need to figure out how to do everything right and then I can even beat  _ your  _ ass.”

Dream scrunched his eyebrows. “But you’re doing it all wrong. Who taught you to hold it like that?”

Tommy bristled. “No one! Not everyone has someone to teach them how to use an axe to kill people, so  _ forgive me  _ for not meeting your  _ standards _ !” He snapped.

Dream put his hands up in surrender. “Okay, okay! Sorry, I just assumed that you would have some experience, what with your… situation. But it’s fine, I can show you the basics."

Well, that was certainly a tempting offer. Dream was apparently one of the best fighters in the land, and learning from him would definitely give Tommy an edge in a lot of situations. But… he didn’t really  _ want  _ to have Dream teach him anything. The idea of learning how to use the weapon that had nearly killed him, from the exact guy who tried to kill him with it, no less, just seemed wrong. He’d rather figure it out on his own.

_ “...Maybe you could even get some advice from him or something, you keep saying how you want to get good at fighting, and Dream is one of the best. You should ask him!” _

Tommy’s heart ached as he suddenly remembered Tubbo’s words from only a few nights before. It had seemed like such a bad idea then, and it still did, but having the opportunity in front of him and knowing that Tubbo would’ve encouraged him to accept the offer was enough for Tommy to begrudgingly change his mind. Aside from being painfully awkward, it couldn’t hurt.

So, Tommy painted a cocky grin on his face and told Dream that he could certainly  _ try _ to teach him something better than what he already knows. 

It was with an identical grin that Dream grasped his gleaming blade, donned his mask once more, and put Tommy through what felt like many endless hours of absolute hell.

\----------

Each step that Tommy forced himself to take was met with harsh retaliation from his aching muscles, still begrudging him after he had been stupid enough to give Dream  _ permission  _ to torment them so. His feet, his arms, his shoulders, his thighs, his  _ everything _ hurt, and all of it only served to fuel Tommy’s hatred more. God, Dream was such a  _ bitch. _

When Dream said he would show him the basics, Tommy assumed that he meant he would show him how to hold an axe properly, how to stand, and a few different ways to swing in different situations. And he had done just that, but then he started going on about how  _ “Experience sticks much better than theoretical knowledge,”  _ which Tommy thought sounded accurate enough. So they sparred a bit, with Dream going pretty easy on him and occasionally offering more pointers whenever the opportunity presented itself.

Of course, he did all of this while also making fun of Tommy for not catching on as quickly as he apparently had. This drove Tommy to swing even harder, which in turn drove Dream to make fun of him even more, because one of the main things they had discussed was that  _ putting more force behind a swing was a waste of energy when all you had to do was let the weight of the blade build up its own momentum and do the work for you _ , or  _ whatever the fuck else  _ Dream forcibly drilled into his head.

Tommy didn’t know which he hated more: the fact that he actually performed much better when he put thought into every strike, or the fact that  _ Dream  _ was the one telling him all of this bullshit, but it was clearly true because Dream easily beat his ass every time. But Tommy really was consistently improving as he got better at applying Dream’s advice, annoyingly enough.

This was all well and good, except it  _ kept going. _ They would spar for a few matches, then speed walk for a while, then spar, then walk, and so on. It was a cruel cycle of never ending physical torment that didn’t seem to phase Dream one bit, but Tommy was suffering. He didn’t say a word of his struggles, of course, as he didn’t want to give Dream the satisfaction of having worn him out so badly, but there was no way the green bastard couldn’t tell. 

Every time Tommy stumbled or faltered in a particularly noticeable way, Dream would remind him what they were doing and why they were doing it. He was learning to fight, both to defend himself and to help get Tubbo back, and Dream wasn’t going to let him say that he had trained under him unless he came out of it with more than passable skills. The second part was stupid and filled Tommy with spite, but the first was enough of a motivator to keep him going. Dream really had a way with words, as much as he hated to admit it.

Eventually, the longest day of Tommy’s life had finally passed, as Dream deigned to set up camp for another night as the sun sank out of sight. Tommy didn’t bother hiding his sigh of relief as he sat on the dirt beside the fire, with Dream assuming a similar position just across from him. Tommy glared at him balefully as his aching body reminded him yet again of the day’s hardship.

Dream laughed, immediately understanding the meaning behind the look. “You’ll be fine! Tomorrow won’t be so bad because you learned a lot today, and we need to focus on moving. Besides, you can’t deny the improvement, and you definitely won’t forget it any time soon, will you?”

“Fuck you,” Tommy responded. “I’ll make Techno teach me more, then I’ll track you down and beat your ass with your own skills combined with his.”

Dream chuckled. “Sure, maybe that’ll happen if you can actually convince him to teach you anything. Techno isn’t really one for sharing, especially when it comes to fighting. He might agree to spar with you, but he would just destroy you without telling you anything about how he did it or how you can avoid it.”

Tommy smirked knowingly. “Yeah, you would know, wouldn’t you?” He snarked.

Dream sighed. “I’m beginning to think that I’ll regret having taught you anything.”

“Of course you will!” Tommy exclaimed. “I’m gonna bite you in the ass so hard– wait, no that’s not right, uh–”

Dream broke into a fit of wheezing laughter, all of the air rushing out of his lungs at once and squealing as he sucked it back in. Tommy had turned beet red, but it only took a few moments for him to start laughing too, as the ridiculousness of it all was too much to ignore.

They both eventually calmed down, with the previously inescapable tension between them temporarily lessened. They were both happy, and relaxed, and even though they still weren’t friends, Tommy was beginning to think that maybe Tubbo wasn’t lying when he said Dream wasn’t so bad, after all.

The smile slid off his face as he thought of his friend again. Here he was, having a party with Dream, while his friend was who knows where in the hands of some creepy kidnapper. What if he was in trouble and needed help, and all Tommy was doing was laughing around a campfire with some annoying guy? 

Dream seemed to catch on as Tommy’s expression fell. “Are you thinking about tonight?” He asked.

Tommy blinked. “What?”

“You know,” Dream began, waving one of his hands in the air, “You saw what happened to Tubbo yesterday, and you’re probably going to leave your body again tonight if that’s really what happened, so who knows what you’ll see next. That’s what you’re thinking about, right?”

Tommy scowled, furious but also considering.  _ “No, _ Dream, that was  _ not  _ what I was thinking about, but  _ thank you  _ for the reassurance!” Now that was all he could think about. He hadn’t even considered what would happen tonight, but now he was dreading it. What if he opened his eyes to his best friend’s corpse?

Dream visibly flinched. “Whoa, I’m– okay, I’m sorry, that was clearly not the right thing to say, in hindsight–”

_ “You think?!”  _ Tommy cut in, further enraged by Dream’s attempts to defend himself.

_ “Yes! _ Obviously I do, otherwise I wouldn’t have said it! But that doesn’t matter, anyways, because you’ll just get upset with me no matter what I do, won’t you?!”

Tommy went quiet as Dream caught his breath after his outburst. God, he was so annoying, and he had tormented Tommy all day only to top it off with his this– this  _ bullshit, _ and he wasn’t even  _ trying  _ to be understanding about  _ anything!  _ Tommy was  _ done, _ he was so tired of this guy and he just wanted to be  _ anywhere else– _

Tommy had to go. “Yeah, maybe I will,” he replied coldly. His lantern was probably somewhere in Dream’s bag, and he lacked the patience and motivation to go get it or, even worse,  _ ask for it, _ so he instead hopped to his feet and stormed off in the darkness, alone, without a light. He didn’t bother listening as Dream eventually started calling after him and instead walked even faster, practically jogging to get away as quickly as possible so that Dream couldn’t follow him. He needed some time to cool off on his own.

He only began to regret his decision once he was too far away to see the fire, the silence and darkness setting in fully. No, he wasn’t scared of the dark, but he  _ was  _ scared of the monsters that he knew could very well be hiding there, with no light to drive them away from him. Yeah, maybe running off alone at night really wasn’t the best idea, but he wouldn’t be calling for help anytime soon. Instead, he turned back towards where he thought the fire was and started walking. Leaves crunched under his feet, sending the crackling sound echoing through the trees. He chose not to think about what that might mean for him, because he had no idea how to go about walking quieter.

Apparently, mindless monsters knew more about being quiet than he did, because he was only alerted to the presence of another being by a little warning bell ringing in the back of his head. He wasn’t mere moments away from dying, he knew, but there was something dangerous approaching. He turned and caught a glimpse of something mottled and green creeping behind him, dark, empty eyes trained on his back as it tried to reach him without being noticed.

Their eyes locked.

Tommy screamed as it suddenly started charging at him, hissing menacingly as its four legs scuttled across the ground at speeds unimaginable from its appearance. Upon being noticed, it gave up on subtlety and went all in, charging recklessly.

Tommy had never seen one of these before, but he’d heard the stories. Fearsome creatures of unknown origin, whose only known purpose was to sneak up on anything that moved and blow itself up, bringing everything around it to a dramatic end. They were apparently fairly rare, since most of them died before they could reproduce, but somehow they lived on, and few who saw one in person lived to tell the tale. Tommy hoped he wouldn’t become just another one in the number of casualties caused by these things.

He hadn’t brought a weapon, not that he would’ve used it, anyways. Best to stay as far away as possible. He did exactly that and  _ ran, _ knowing that he could probably outrun it but only hoping that he could outlast it. He was tired from everything that had happened today, and his muscles continued to complain even as the adrenaline pumping through his body kept him running for his life. Yet another thing to thank Dream for.

_ One foot in front of the other, _ he mentally chanted, pushing to continue the cycle even as his body was already begging him to stop. Each step was heavier than the last, so it didn’t come as much of a surprise when he finally stumbled and fell flat on the ground. He turned and saw the creeper, many feet behind him but still running, eyes focused solely on him, and he knew he was fucked. Once again, he was left on the ground, staring as his executioner bore down upon him. How poetic.

A hand suddenly grabbed his shoulder, and his reflexive yelp was muffled by a second one slapping over his mouth. He began to struggle, biting down on the hand while kicking, only to pause as his assailant urgently  _ shushed  _ him with a familiar voice, and an even more familiar green-sleeved arm.  _ Dream. _

He complied and stopped struggling, but didn’t see the point as the monster was still coming their way. Dream was an idiot, apparently, but at least he would be going down with him.

Imagine his confusion when the creeper had finally closed the distance between them, only to continue running straight past them. He turned to see why that might be, and saw one of Dream’s illusion things running in the distance, dragging a Tommy lookalike behind him. The creeper had zeroed in on them, mindlessly chasing them without considering that there may be some trickery at play. Huh. That definitely did the trick.

Once the creeper had run far enough into the distance, Dream released Tommy from his hold, only to smack him on the head in a manner that wasn’t particularly painful, but was definitely annoying. Tommy’s frustration from earlier rose to the surface yet again.

_ “Ow!  _ What was that for, asshole?!” Tommy snapped, rubbing his sore head.

“What do you think, idiot? You just ran off and almost got yourself killed!”

“Well maybe you shouldn’t have been such a dick, then!”

“I wasn’t– ugh, we can finish this later. For now, let’s get back to the fire so we don't attract any other monsters,” Dream sighed, clearly tired and fed up with the situation.

Tommy huffed, but nodded anyways and followed Dream. He thought the fire was the other way, but apparently Dream knew better than he did, because soon he could see the light flickering through the trees.

He assumed his previous position beside the flames, with Dream doing the same. Dream removed his mask, revealing his disheveled appearance. Tommy couldn’t care less about Dream’s problems, though, so he ignored it.

After a few minutes of just sitting there, Dream decided to break the silence. 

“So… we should probably–”

“I’m tired,” Tommy interrupted. “I don’t want to talk about it right now.”

Dream sighed. “Yeah, sure. Tomorrow. Should I–”

“I don’t care what you do. Give me my bedroll, I’m going to sleep.”

_ “Stop that!” _ Dream suddenly shouted, fed up. “I was just going to ask if you want me to wake you up if you have a nightmare. That’s all. At least let me finish before you assume the worst of me.”

“I think I have a right to assume the worst of you, considering–”

“I know why, Tommy. Of course I know. But I’m not going to do anything,  _ hell,  _ I’ve been teaching you how to fight all day. I get that you’re still mad, but let’s at least be nice enough not to get ourselves killed, okay?”

Tommy pressed his lips in a flat line, but nodded. Dream was actually much more understanding than he thought, and that request was reasonable enough. He certainly didn’t want a repeat of this night’s events, and he would only have to deal with Dream for a bit longer. He could try to be civil until then.

Dream seemed to at least be content with this, as he tiredly nodded in return, then dug through his bag and handed Tommy his bedroll with a weary grin. Tommy took it and mumbled his quiet thanks before tuning out Dream’s presence entirely.

Tommy went to sleep that night dreading what he might see, but he didn’t have any strange dreams. In fact, he didn’t dream of anything at all.

\----------

The next few days passed mostly in silence that was even more tense than before. The barrier between the two of them seemed to have grown stronger than ever, and it certainly wasn’t helped by Tommy’s growing fear and anxiety from having no dreams whatsoever over the previous nights. He had no idea what had happened with Tubbo or the rest of his family in the last few days, which was literally the worst possible time for him to be out of the loop. What if they already left to go after him, and Tommy was just traveling all this way to an empty house?

He tried not to let those thoughts hold him back, though, and it seemed to have paid off. This whole, terrible trip was finally coming to an end, if Dream was telling the truth.

Tommy was finally willing to admit that Dream was kind of okay, though not to Dream himself. It was too awkward for him to say anything about it now, and he certainly didn’t plan on apologizing. It was too late for that, anyways. The only times they really spoke anymore was when they sparred, which didn’t happen nearly as often as on the first day, or when Tommy had to ask for something. He wasn’t going to break that pattern to say sorry when he wasn’t even guilty, especially not when they were only going to be together for a few more minutes now.

They were almost there. About an hour ago, Dream had said that they should be there within the hour, so he was expecting to see a familiar house any second now. He was eagerly anticipating a glimpse of pale blue through the trees, and when he finally saw it, a grin stretched over his face and he broke out in a sprint, ignoring Dream’s surprised shout behind him. He could keep up.

He broke through the tree line to see a full frontal view of the house, exactly as it had been that night, except this time in sunlight. He looked around in awe, then froze as his eyes settled on a figure leaning against the wall of the house, staring right at him. He recognized him based on Tubbo’s description alone.

Dream ran out of the forest after him.

Wilbur shifted and began to walk towards them. He grinned, sharp and knowing. Something large  _ whooshed _ as it landed behind them. Red eyes gleamed through the trees across from them.

Tommy had a feeling this wouldn’t be a warm welcome.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oopsie sbi doesn't seem very happy
> 
> ...at least dream is there?


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi. yes, this chapter took a while, but for good reason.
> 
> basically, i was very proud of my evil cliffhanger, and i knew i had to follow it up with something good. so, i really took my time with this one. i only wrote when i was feeling inspired, and i didn't post until i was genuinely proud of it. i received my final stretch of inspiration from a Panda Express fortune cookie that said "you will be inspired to finish your masterpiece today." it was a sign.
> 
> so, for once, i can say that i'm actually very happy with this chapter. i hope you guys will be, too. :)

Tommy froze as the cold edge of a blade pressed against the side of his throat from behind. The steadily approaching red from the trees told him that Techno wasn’t here just yet, and Wilbur was still calmly approaching from the front, so this could only be one person.

“What did you do with my son?” Phil asked, deadly serious.

Tommy sucked in a breath as he tried to formulate a response, only to harshly flinch back as the blade was knocked away from him with a sharp  _ clang.  _ He almost tripped and landed himself flat on the ground, but caught himself at the last moment and whipped around to see what had happened. 

Dream was at odds with Phil, the two men staring each other down, weapons at the ready but not yet in motion.

“Hear us out, Phil,” Dream began, firm. “You don’t want to do this, it isn’t what you think.”

Phil narrowed his eyes. Tommy noticed the unnatural glow of his blade, just like Dream’s axe, as it reflected in his emerald irises. His wings were folded regally behind him, feathers glossy and pristine. He was one of the most intimidating people Tommy had ever seen. “I think it’s pretty clear what happened. I’m not just going to let him walk away after what he did. Step away.”

Dream shook his head, shifting his grip on his axe into what Tommy recognized as a defensive position. “No, listen, we came here to–”

Tommy yelped as his brain sounded a now-familiar warning, shrieking for him to move and sending his body into motion before he could even think, legs practically giving out as he ducked down as quickly as possible. He experienced déjà vu as an identical blade to Phil’s arced over his head in a smooth motion, right where his neck had been. A panicked glance showed that Techno had arrived, and he was out for blood. His glare alone was almost enough to make Tommy freeze, completely at the mercy of the beast before him, but another mental alarm had him scrambling away as, lightning quick, Techno rotated the blade ever so slightly so that the sharp end was pointing at Tommy, then swung down. This one was even more narrowly evaded.

Just as Techno’s expression hardened, sword rising up for yet another blow, he was sent stumbling back as Dream rammed him with a huge, wooden shield, and Tommy didn’t even get to finish wondering  _ where had that come from  _ before they both sprung into action, trading blows faster than his eyes could follow. He crawled back as he noticed Phil stepping towards him again, but it seemed that Dream had somehow noticed as well, as he shifted to stand between the both of them and Tommy. How the masked man could keep track of anything outside of his battle with Techno was completely beyond him.

Phil didn’t seem to want to join the fight. He stared regretfully at Dream, but then seemed to remember why he was doing this as he steeled his shoulders and stepped into the fray anyway, his swing only intercepted by the blade of Dream’s axe as his other hand held off Techno with the shield. They closed in from both sides, knowing that Dream couldn’t keep them away forever if he was only going to play this defensively.

Tommy knew it, too. Sure, watching as Dream seamlessly shifted between blocking one blade with his shield and the other with his weapon was impressive, but he obviously had no intent to fight back, and his opponents weren’t pushovers. He would go down one way or another, and Tommy would be soon to follow. Unless he managed to convince them to stop, they were both thoroughly fucked.

Dream was well established as the better speaker between them, but he was a bit occupied. Tommy didn’t expect him to be giving any heartfelt speeches while also remaining focused on his opponents, so it was up to him to talk them out of this. Great.

He knew he didn’t have much time, but he had to put some thought into what he said, because bad things tended to happen when he spoke without thinking. How should he start? Maybe by mentioning that he hadn’t stolen Tubbo’s powers on purpose, since they seemed understandably upset about that and it  _ did  _ seem pretty bad–

“Hey.”

Tommy flinched at the cold, level voice that sounded from behind him. It took all of his willpower not to voice his momentary panic, but he managed to restrain it to just a shaky exhale. He then turned to see Wilbur smirking down at him. Once again, he was left reflecting on how much of an idiot he was, as the commotion had caused him to completely forget about Wilbur. He was literally the first person he saw at this house, how had he forgotten?

Tommy tried to scramble away from him, but Wilbur just kicked him back down and continued staring. He was smiling, but his eyes were icy and unforgiving.

“Fuck off!” Tommy spat, expressing his mounting panic through anger and harsh words. He couldn’t do anything else, after all, since he somehow hadn’t thought to bring his axe when he ran to this house, his excitement at the sight of it outweighing the plan that he and Dream had discussed beforehand. So, his only weapon was currently in Dream’s bag. 

Wilbur only tilted his head. “You know…” he began, “I saw you coming, but I’m only just realizing how much of a little gremlin you are. There’s nothing like truly seeing someone in the flesh, after all.”

He punctuated that sentence by kicking Tommy, thus rolling him over, and then planting a foot on his ribs, pinning him down. Tommy, in spite of the apparent hopelessness of this situation, continued to stare up at him defiantly. A plan began to form in his mind, scrounged together from the few options that were available to him. He didn’t fight back.

“Yeah, I thought I knew what you looked like, too,” Tommy replied. “You’re uglier than I imagined.”

Wilbur’s expression didn’t change, but the pressure on Tommy’s ribs increased, going from very uncomfortable to painful. He kept his wince internal for the sake of his pride.

“I didn’t think I’d get the chance to talk to you. They wanted to just get it over with and kill you as quickly as possible, which is well enough, I suppose, but I had a better idea. Phil just couldn’t get behind interrogating someone so young, even after what you did,” Wilbur explained. 

Tommy’s blood went cold as Wilbur leaned down, closing some of the distance between their faces and giving Tommy a better look at the maddening apathy in his gaze.

“But now, the opportunity has presented itself, and why  _ wouldn’t  _ I take it? So…” Wilbur twisted his foot, grinding the heel of his boot into Tommy’s chest, and he couldn’t suppress the pained gasp that crawled up out of his throat.

“How did you do it, and why? No, actually, I know why. You told Schlatt, right? Used Tubbo’s power to spy on us and told him where we were so he could send one of his powered-up slaves after us. That’s what happened, isn’t it?”

Tommy just bared his teeth. He knew Wilbur wouldn’t listen if he denied it, not when he was in a position with so much power over him. He couldn’t do anything, he just had to wait. There would be a golden opportunity soon. There  _ had  _ to be.

_ Clang, clang, thud. _ Dream was still fending off Techno and Phil. Tommy couldn’t see them clearly because he refused to turn away from Wilbur, but he didn’t need to, anyways. He could probably figure out a way to get Dream’s attention based on just the sounds if he really tried, though that would be by far the hardest part of this whole thing.

“So, the better question is  _ how? _ Hopefully that’s just something you can do on your own, because if Schlatt has found some way to steal anyone’s powers and give them to someone else, then, well, that’s not very good. You’ll tell me which one it is, won’t you?” Wilbur asked, feigning civility.

Tommy gritted his teeth.  _ Please,  _ he mentally pleaded.  _ Whatever bullshit power I have, please do one more thing for me. _

Wilbur ground his heel even harder.  _ “Won’t you?” _

A bell rang in Tommy’s mind as a louder  _ thud  _ than all of the others sounded, a sword impacting against a shield in a way that Tommy hoped meant that it was lodged in there. Wilbur turned to see what had made the sound. Choosing to seize what was probably the best opportunity that he would get to do anything, Tommy used the only real option available to him and shoved Wilbur off of him with a grunt of exertion, which incited a surprised, slightly panicked shout as he was knocked off balance and fell, just as Tommy had hoped. The sound caused everyone else to turn to them, attention caught by the sudden shout.

The fight stopped as Tommy suddenly darted away from all of them before they could react, laughing at the bewildered and enraged voices calling from behind him. He stopped laughing when he heard Phil’s wings start flapping, and when a crossbow bolt shot through the air by his head, grazing his ear and drawing a small amount of blood. Right, running didn’t exactly help when one guy could fly and the other apparently had a crossbow. After ending up in about the same situation when fleeing from Dream, Tommy really should have expected this.

The sound of Phil’s flying came closer, the time that it would take to reload the crossbow was running out, and Tommy had a feeling that neither of them would give him even the slightest leeway to escape. Unless Dream could come up with something within the next few seconds, it was over. All of this would’ve been for nothing.

As if on cue, Dream shouted,  _ “Stop!” _

When Tommy’s pursuers didn’t even pause, Dream continued. “Look at me! Don’t touch him, or Wilbur gets it!”

_ That  _ was enough for them to pause, and Tommy turned in unison with the other two, grinning as he was greeted by the sight of Dream holding Wilbur with an axe to his throat. Wilbur, to his credit, didn’t seem particularly alarmed by this. Sure, he wasn’t smiling anymore, but his expression showed no trace of fear. He seemed… exasperated, almost. Impatient.

Techno, who had been steadily stepping after Tommy, turned to Dream with a venomous glare. He opened his mouth, probably to issue a threat, but Dream beat him to it.

“Okay,” Dream breathed, “Now that I’ve got your attention, let’s all just talk this out like adults before committing murder.”

Dream was out of breath, holding a battered shield with an abandoned sword stabbed straight through it, which somehow hadn’t hit him when it was lodged there. Tommy could hear the weariness in his voice when he spoke.

Tommy took advantage of the moment of stillness and backed away further, not intending to leave, but there was certainly no harm in putting some more distance between himself and the people who obviously wanted to kill him. Phil, who had since landed after closing half of the distance between them, shot him a warning look, which was enough to stop him in his tracks.

Techno scoffed. “Dream, I’m not sure what you’re hoping to achieve here,” he began, “but we both know how this is going to end. Stop trying to drag this out. Why would you want to help this kid anyways? Surely you know what he did, who he’s working for?”

Dream shook his head. “You guys jumped to the wrong conclusion, which I don’t blame you for. From what I understand, the whole situation was pretty terrible and the timing of whatever happened between Tommy and Tubbo was even worse, but Tommy played no part in the kidnapping. He didn’t know any of this was going to happen, and I would know. I’ve been traveling with him for the past few weeks. He couldn’t have told Schlatt anything during that time.”

Phil narrowed his eyes. “And how do we know you’re not lying, or that Tommy didn’t use some other trick to communicate behind your back?”

“Why would I lie? We’re friends, I come here pretty often, and I hate Schlatt as much as you do. And I guess the only way for you to trust Tommy is to give him a chance. Trust me, I did the same thing you guys are doing when I first met him, and it was actually Tubbo who stopped me and told me to help him. Spend a few days with him and you’ll realize that he literally couldn’t do anything like that even if he wanted to.”

“Hey!” Tommy interjected, offended. He could do whatever he wanted!

The combined glares that immediately focused on him were enough to smother his defensiveness with embarrassment, and he flushed. Yeah, he was really doing a great job making himself seem like a good guy right now, huh?

Dream seamlessly picked up where he left off as if nothing had happened. “Seriously, let’s just calm down and take this inside. You can ask him whatever you want and see for yourselves if he seems like a spy or not before you kill him.”

Wilbur grinned for seemingly no reason, even with the axe still trained on his throat. What a creep. Dream didn’t seem to notice.

Techno did not seem placated in the slightest, as his finger was still idly running over the trigger of his crossbow, not aimed at Tommy but easily able to be shifted at a moment’s notice. It was pretty clear that, regardless of Dream’s words, he wanted blood, and would not settle until it had been spilled. Tommy noticed that he didn’t seem to have a sword anymore, which answered the question of the origin of the one stuck in Dream’s shield.

Phil was ultimately the deciding factor. His hardened expression had been wavering since Dream’s speech began, and he finally sighed and relaxed, sheathing his sword and nodding in resignation. “Alright,” he acquiesced. “I’m not really one for killing people who could be innocent, even if I have my doubts. Calm down, boys. Let’s take this inside.”

Techno bristled. “You can’t be serious! This is–”

Phil didn’t let him finish. “We don’t know what this is yet. Let’s figure it out before we spill this kid’s blood on our hands. And Tubbo liked him, remember? Let’s put a bit of faith in his judgement. Put the bow away, Techno,” he insisted, firm.

Tommy didn’t expect that to accomplish anything, since Phil suddenly seemed like a bit of a pushover and Techno was  _ pissed. _ And yet, in spite of his obvious disagreement and lingering anger, Techno unloaded the bow, stuck the arrow back in the quiver at his hip, and tucked the weapon itself somewhere within his cloak. Huh. Why would he listen to Phil?

Dream released Wilbur, putting his axe away and stepping away from the man like it burned to touch him. Wilbur didn’t acknowledge this, instead using his freedom to immediately march to Techno. They looked at each other, and no words were exchanged but they seemed to communicate nonetheless, and they smiled at each other before casually walking to the house in peace, as if none of the shit that just took place had ever happened. What the fuck?

Phil gave a short laugh at their behavior, but didn’t offer an explanation. Maybe he didn’t know, either. He met Tommy’s eyes without bloodlust for the first time, and though he obviously still didn’t like or trust him, Phil still offered a weak grin before turning towards the house and gesturing for him to follow. Tommy didn’t buy it, but he still appreciated the gesture, and followed wordlessly. Dream inserted himself between them, as if he was some kind of dumb shield or something. Tommy would’ve rolled his eyes if Dream hadn’t just saved his ass a thousand times over.

The inside of the house was just as Tommy remembered. Phil led them to the same room where Tommy had overheard him and Techno talking about him, which made him even more uncomfortable with the situation, but he didn’t mention it. He doubted they expected him to be comfortable, anyway. 

Wilbur and Techno were waiting for them. Apparently, something funny had just happened, as Techno was obviously suppressing a grin and Wilbur was openly chuckling. They both became serious once the rest of them arrived, though Wilbur was doing a poor job of it. Phil sat beside them, then gestured for Tommy and Dream to sit across from them, which they did without complaint. This was a couch! Tommy hadn’t sat on a couch in ages, of course he wasn’t going to complain.

Dream removed his mask and set it on a table beside him, probably so that they could read his expression and have a better idea of whether or not he was telling the truth. That was definitely a good idea.

Unfortunately, it didn’t seem that Dream’s attempts to be more trustworthy would make much of a difference, as it soon became clear that their questions weren’t for him. Not a moment of peace persisted before Techno cleared his throat and fixed his gaze on Tommy, with everyone else soon to follow. Tommy shrunk under their scrutiny.

“So,” Techno began, grabbing the shield that Dream had set down on the floor and yanking his sword out with a  _ crack,  _ leaving a ragged hole in the wood. “You have some explaining to do,  _ Tommy.” _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> for once it didn't end with a terrible cliffhanger! okay, so it is still kind of a cliffhanger, but it's better than the usual ones, right?
> 
> the next chapter probably won't take as long but i make no promises.
> 
> i am very happy with the result of this chapter, but i'm genuinely curious about whether it seemed better than usual or not. yes, i put a bit more effort into it, but a lot of the time the other chapters just kind of wrote themselves and i was happy enough with them. thoughts?

**Author's Note:**

> nothing motivates me more than comments, so if you like what you see here, please let me know! i'm open to criticism, suggestions, and people getting angry at me about angst because boy, is there angst. pretty much anything that you say will make me smile unless you specifically try to upset me, so tell me your thoughts!
> 
> thank you for reading! <3


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